content warnings:

Spoiler

major character death, suicide by hanging, systemic misogyny & misogynistic language, domestic violence, physical & emotional child abuse, animal sacrifice, mention of animal slaughter, infanticide, death of children/adolescents, ableist language, mass shooting, colonization

rep:

Spoiler

African setting & cast

Based on the themes and prose I can see why this is considered a classic. There's a lot of rich cultural detail, social commentary, passages that invite interpretation/discussion. It's not super heavy on plot or character development, which can be both good and bad (but, for the record, didn't really work for me personally — particularly the lack of resolution).

So in short, I think this is an interesting, certainly worthwhile read, but for me it may also be a forgettable one.

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CONVERSION: 7.8 / 15 = 3 stars

Prose: 6 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 3 / 10
Emotional Impact: 2 / 10
Development / Flow: 4 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 4 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: N/A
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 2 / 5

Full-cast audiobooks might just be my favorite way to get through classics.

Historical action adventure/romance isn't generally my cup of tea so admittedly I may have zoned out a few times, but I'll probably watch one of the many film adaptations instead of rereading this. Nothing against Dumas or his writing, though.

This was so. freaking. loooooooooooong. And I'm not entirely sure whether it was worth it, but at least I can say now that I've read this one, I guess.

I tried years ago to read this but gave up pretty early on; it does get better after

Spoiler

Dantes escapes the prison and transforms himself into the titular Count

which is where I stopped the first time, though it's still slow going.

Honestly, I found a lot of the plot to be either predictable or too drawn-out (or both). Possibly some of it is just good foreshadowing, and I'm sure some people enjoy the slow build; it just doesn't work for me. The introspective/philosophical epiphany-monologues didn't help, either.

My problems with the pacing are exacerbated by the way so much of the story is told secondhand by other characters, which made it feel even slower (especially since I didn't feel like it was safe to get attached to any of the characters). Few of the characters seemed likable, especially among the main cast; as much as I wanted to sympathize with some of them, I just didn't really care.

And I know this is basically ancient in the grand scheme of publishing, but that really doesn't make the Orientalism and misogyny any more pleasant to read — especially with how pervasive it is. Yeah, it could be worse ... it could also have been much better.

Which is basically how I feel about the whole book. Seriously, this didn't need to be over a thousand pages.

content warnings:

Spoiler

major character deaths, death of a child, stillbirth, torture, racist slurs (n-word, g*psy), Orientalism, misogynistic language and attitudes, threats of suicide, thoughts of cannibalism, hunting (wild goats, gamefowl), animal abuse, rape & kidnapping, non-graphic violence, blood, slavery

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CONVERSION: 8.5 / 15 = 3 stars

Prose: 5 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 7 / 10
Emotional Impact: 4 / 10
Development / Flow: 6 / 10
Setting: 8 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: N/A
Intellectual Engagement: 2 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 3 / 5
Rereadability: 2 / 5
Memorability: 3 / 5

This is brilliant and I only understood, at most, 60% of it. Largely helped by listening to the audio performance while following along in the ebook, I imagine I'd pick up even more seeing it performed. But the characters are vibrant, the humor is clever, and the plot is fascinating.

Definitely one to revisit at some point.

I can see why this is so critically acclaimed and popular, but I personally don't "get" the appeal; it's not bad, necessarily, just very much not for me.

The non-linear narrative confused me almost to the point of apathy, and I honestly couldn't figure out why certain elements were included. The sex scenes seemed gratuitous. None of the characters really moved me to sympathy, though some evoked a bit of pity, and others a bit of anger. Overall, this was just not a reading experience for me — though at least I can now say I tried, I guess.

content warnings:

Spoiler

internalized & external/societal racism/colorism, racist slurs (n-word, g*psy), graphic sexual content, rape, sexual assault & harassment, incest, pedophilia, domestic abuse, slut-shaming, bullying, infant death, animal abuse (cat), animal death (dog, deliberately poisoned)

rep:

Spoiler

Black MCs, biracial minor character(s)

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CONVERSION: 5.87 / 15 = 2 stars

Prose: 7 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 2 / 10
Emotional Impact: 1 / 10
Development / Flow: 2 / 10
Setting: 4 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 4 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: 3 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: N/A
Rereadability: 1 / 5
Memorability: N/A

I actually don't know that I would have finished this book in a print format, which is an interesting change since I've DNF'd so many audiobooks. But I enjoyed listening to the flow of the prose, despite not much plot happening and not being particularly attached to any of the characters.

Maybe it's the distancing effect of the audio format, but the story wasn't as intense as I had anticipated — which ended up being totally fine. While there's quite a bit of potentially triggering content, I felt like I was mostly just along for the ride as the narrators made poor life decisions and fucked up their relationships.

As often happens with audiobooks, I may have zoned out during key sections. But I feel like I got enough of the gist that I don't need to reread it in print.

content warnings:

Spoiler

past domestic abuse, mention of past OD, precanon parent death, survivors guilt, mention of homophobic parents, mention of eating disorder, anti-abortion rhetoric, mention of self-induced abortion attempts, nonconsensual sex between partners

rep:

Spoiler

Korean-American MCs, gay Korean-American minor character

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CONVERSION: 8.7 / 15 = 3 stars

Prose: 8 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 7 / 10
Emotional Impact: 6 / 10
Development / Flow: 4 / 10
Setting: 6 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: N/A
Intellectual Engagement: 3 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: N/A
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 2 / 5

My strongest impression is that this book is very long and quite graphic. (I'm kind of morbidly curious how many times "seeping pus" is mentioned, but not enough to actually check.) Although I appreciate the author's intent to illuminate the story of these overlooked women — pun fully intended; with the title being what it is, how could I resist? — I found it repetitive and drawn-out, with no end in sight.

I do acknowledge that that's probably how the Radium Girls felt about the justice process, so in that regard it's fitting. But there really didn't seem to be much of a narrative arc, the included details generally bored rather than intrigued me, and overall I just didn't really enjoy listening to this audiobook.

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CONVERSION: 9 / 15 = 3 stars

Prose: 6 / 10
Intellectual Engagement: 4 / 10
Credibility: 8 / 10
Organization / Structure: 6 / 10

Emotional Impact / Interest: 3 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 3 / 5

>> Jan 2020 pick for Old Books, New Readers.

"And I here make a rule — a great and lasting story is about everyone or it will not last. The strange and foreign is not interesting — only the deeply personal and familiar."

Since [b:The Grapes of Wrath|18114322|The Grapes of Wrath|John Steinbeck|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1375670575l/18114322._SY75_.jpg|2931549] is one of my least favorite books I have ever read for class, I was pretty wary going into this book. And it definitely took some getting (re)acquainted with Steinbeck's writing style — if I'm being entirely honest, I skimmed a lot of descriptive passages throughout. But the characters and vivid setting just pull you in, if not from the first page then by the time you're a few chapters in; once you've been hooked, all you can really do is go along with the flow.

There was a lot more moralizing and sociopolitical commentary than I can generally tolerate, yet Steinbeck somehow made me care? And want to keep reading? I don't know what kind of magic is in this book, but I simultaneously felt like I was reading it for ages and I didn't want it to end.

content warnings:

Spoiler

unchallenged racism (including anti-Black and anti-Chinese slurs), suicide (by shooting, by poison), major character deaths, fantasies of violence & body mutilation, on-page violence, alcoholism, underage drinking

rep:

Spoiler

Chinese-American major character, some diverse minor characters

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CONVERSION: 11.47 / 15 = 4 stars

Prose: 8 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 9 / 10
Emotional Impact: 7 / 10
Development / Flow: 6 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 4 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: 4 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: N/A
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 3 / 5

I'm honestly impressed by how progressive this is, considering it's (relatively) old and set in a most-likely-predominantly-white small town:

Spoiler

a scene refuting the assumption that each of the girls will grow up to be a "little housewife", and the way they get over their preconceptions of "foreigners" by befriending Syrian immigrant Naifi and her community

.

I don't know that I loved this quite as much as the previous two books, but it's still quite a fun read.

3.5 stars

I don't know, for some reason I just didn't like this one as much as the first few. The girls are at an awkward age and starting to realize that other people exist beyond the three of them and their immediate families, which is always a weird time; they aren't always the nicest to those other people, which is understandable but not the most pleasant to read about.

Still, I'm definitely hooked on this series and I'll probably come back to finish the rest eventually.