rickjones's Reviews (1.66k)

Reviewing this several months after I first read it, so I don't remember details. I found it very difficult to stay engaged with this book and the character's hedonistic attitudes. I just wasn't endeared to any of the characters and most of them felt irritatingly entitled, regardless of how intensely the author seemed to want to make you think otherwise. The length of the book and amount of pages used solely to describe drunken parties the characters attended did nothing to improve how dull it was to me. There's also the ickiness of the leading character and the dead boy he's in love with legally being brothers. Why was that necessary... The book's description of grief and tragedy were decent, but I was so disinterested in the plot that I already forgot how it ended. If not for the gorgeous cover art I probably would have brought it to the secondhand store by now, which sounds almost too mean to include, but I don't see myself reading it again. 

Reviewing this several months after I first read it, so I don't remember details. Little Eve is an intensely disturbing gothic work about the horrors of isolation, miseducation and unraveling layers of lies. I found the book difficult to read because of the subject matter, but I was still excited to keep turning each page and learn Eve's fate. The final twist was actually something I was unable to predict, and the haunting characters and atmosphere have stayed with me long after I finished the novel. I highly recommend this book to those who can stomach it. 

This book is for people who enjoy meandering, atmospheric historical fiction, which is far from how I'd describe myself. I only got halfway through the book on my first attempt, yet thankfully I'd reached the quicker part of the story when I returned to finish it months later. While I'd hoped this story would focus on Carlota's relationship to the hybrids, most of the narrative was dedicated to a tense will-they-won't-they relationship between her and an inappropriately older man. This story obviously ties into the history of Spanish colonialism, yet that theme was not layered for me to give it much praise. The writing style itself was decent, though much of the dialogue felt stiff. I was disappointed to find that this story is more of a slow-paced and tragic historical romance that anything else. If you expected a science fiction or political thriller, this is not the book for you. 

Reviewing this several months after I first read it, so I don't remember details. This was a riveting short-story not only in its horror aspects, but in how similar the protagonist's "treatment" is comparable to ways we're still misunderstanding mental health conditions in the modern day. Though the story on its own is an interesting read, it's equally important to seek out historical information about its context to understand it as Gilman's brilliant literary protest of both misogyny and poorly considered treatment for individuals with mental illness.  

Reviewing this several months after I first read it, so I don't remember details. While the slow pace of this book made it difficult for me to get invested it, I really adored Merricat's eerie, drifting voice. The main twist of the novel was spoiled for me long ago, though I imagine it wouldn't have been that difficult to guess. Regardless of what she'd done, Merricat remained my favorite character and I felt very drawn to her. Jackson's distain for the narrow-minded hatred of most people ripples throughout the novel, culminating in an act of vengeance as regrettable as it is permanent. I wish this was a book I'd had the opportunity to read in school, because there are likely themes and symbols in the novel that I didn't understand on my own as well as I'd like to.