Churie
Added to listOwnedwith 107 books.
This honestly disappointed me. It wanted to be like My Dark Vanessa, and touched on some of the same topics as Lolita, however I feel those 2 titles handled the material far better.
Although I really liked McCurdy's prose in her autobiography, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much here. The constant tangential observations often felt like filler. Many of the explicit scenes were pure shock content rather than progressing story or character. Themes such as self-image, toxic relationships, and shopping addiction were dealt with in a heavy-handed way - it was a repetitive cycle, all done very literally, and never really felt like it progressed. In fact, the ending seemed more like the natural end of infatuation, and driving off leaving unfinished business and loose ends really hammered in the fact that I don't feel Waldo actually developed much as a character at all through the story - only the relationship changed. If we want to continue the theme of Waldo making her mother's mistakes and the cycle of abuse, then judging by the ending, Waldo also seems doomed to fall into the same patterns rather than breaking the cycle, which made the whole book feel a bit unsatisfying.
Additionally the 'voice' of Waldo felt the same voice as in McCurdy's autobiography to me, which also detracted from the story she was trying to tell. Combined with some shared plot points such as Mormonism and single-parent families, I wish it read as more distinctly different.
Furthermore, as pointed out in another review on GR (that I think describes the issue far better), Mr. Korgy almost falls into being a tragic romantic at times in the story, which was absolutely not the intention (I can see he was meant to be more pathetic groomer). However that doesn't change the fact that I didn't completely like his portrayal, and once again I feel this was handled better in other works I've read before.
Overall I don't think this was bad per se, just I personally didn't like the prose or handling of the subject matter, and as a result after enjoying her previous autobiography so much it was a bit of a let-down.
> No, I will not be rereading (or re-listening)
> No, I would not recommend
This honestly disappointed me. It wanted to be like My Dark Vanessa, and touched on some of the same topics as Lolita, however I feel those 2 titles handled the material far better.
Although I really liked McCurdy's prose in her autobiography, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much here. The constant tangential observations often felt like filler. Many of the explicit scenes were pure shock content rather than progressing story or character. Themes such as self-image, toxic relationships, and shopping addiction were dealt with in a heavy-handed way - it was a repetitive cycle, all done very literally, and never really felt like it progressed. In fact, the ending seemed more like the natural end of infatuation, and driving off leaving unfinished business and loose ends really hammered in the fact that I don't feel Waldo actually developed much as a character at all through the story - only the relationship changed. If we want to continue the theme of Waldo making her mother's mistakes and the cycle of abuse, then judging by the ending, Waldo also seems doomed to fall into the same patterns rather than breaking the cycle, which made the whole book feel a bit unsatisfying.
Additionally the 'voice' of Waldo felt the same voice as in McCurdy's autobiography to me, which also detracted from the story she was trying to tell. Combined with some shared plot points such as Mormonism and single-parent families, I wish it read as more distinctly different.
Furthermore, as pointed out in another review on GR (that I think describes the issue far better), Mr. Korgy almost falls into being a tragic romantic at times in the story, which was absolutely not the intention (I can see he was meant to be more pathetic groomer). However that doesn't change the fact that I didn't completely like his portrayal, and once again I feel this was handled better in other works I've read before.
Overall I don't think this was bad per se, just I personally didn't like the prose or handling of the subject matter, and as a result after enjoying her previous autobiography so much it was a bit of a let-down.
> No, I will not be rereading (or re-listening)
> No, I would not recommend
This honestly disappointed me. It wanted to be like My Dark Vanessa, and touched on some of the same topics as Lolita, however I feel those 2 titles handled the material far better.
Although I really liked McCurdy's prose in her autobiography, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much here. The constant tangential observations often felt like filler. The many explicit scenes often felt like pure shock content rather than progressing story or character (not all, but many). Themes such as self-image, toxic relationships, and shopping addiction were dealt with in a heavy-handed way - it was a repetitive cycle, all done very literally, and never really felt like it progressed. In fact, the ending seemed more like the natural end of infatuation, and driving off leaving unfinished business and loose ends really hammered in the fact that I don't feel Waldo actually developed much as a character at all through the story - only the relationship changed. If we want to continue the theme of Waldo making her mother's mistakes and the cycle of abuse, then judging by the ending, Waldo also seems doomed to fall into the same patterns rather than breaking the cycle, which made the whole book feel a bit unsatisfying.
Additionally the 'voice' of Waldo felt the same voice as in McCurdy's autobiography to me, which also detracted from the story she was trying to tell. Combined with some shared plot points such as Mormonism and single-parent families, I wish it read as more distinctly different.
Furthermore, as pointed out in another review on GR (that I think describes the issue far better), Mr. Korgy almost falls into being a tragic romantic at times in the story, which was absolutely not the intention (I can see he was meant to be more pathetic groomer). However that doesn't change the fact that I didn't completely like his portrayal, and once again I feel this was handled better in other works I've read before.
Overall I don't think this was bad per se, just I personally didn't like the prose or handling of the subject matter, and as a result after enjoying her previous autobiography so much it was a bit of a let-down.
> No, I will not be rereading (or re-listening)
> No, I would not recommend
This honestly disappointed me. It wanted to be like My Dark Vanessa, and touched on some of the same topics as Lolita, however I feel those 2 titles handled the material far better.
Although I really liked McCurdy's prose in her autobiography, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much here. The constant tangential observations often felt like filler. The many explicit scenes often felt like pure shock content rather than progressing story or character (not all, but many). Themes such as self-image, toxic relationships, and shopping addiction were dealt with in a heavy-handed way - it was a repetitive cycle, all done very literally, and never really felt like it progressed. In fact, the ending seemed more like the natural end of infatuation, and driving off leaving unfinished business and loose ends really hammered in the fact that I don't feel Waldo actually developed much as a character at all through the story - only the relationship changed. If we want to continue the theme of Waldo making her mother's mistakes and the cycle of abuse, then judging by the ending, Waldo also seems doomed to fall into the same patterns rather than breaking the cycle, which made the whole book feel a bit unsatisfying.
Additionally the 'voice' of Waldo felt the same voice as in McCurdy's autobiography to me, which also detracted from the story she was trying to tell. Combined with some shared plot points such as Mormonism and single-parent families, I wish it read as more distinctly different.
Furthermore, as pointed out in another review on GR (that I think describes the issue far better), Mr. Korgy almost falls into being a tragic romantic at times in the story, which was absolutely not the intention (I can see he was meant to be more pathetic groomer). However that doesn't change the fact that I didn't completely like his portrayal, and once again I feel this was handled better in other works I've read before.
Overall I don't think this was bad per se, just I personally didn't like the prose or handling of the subject matter, and as a result after enjoying her previous autobiography so much it was a bit of a let-down.
> No, I will not be rereading (or re-listening)
> No, I would not recommend
Full of schemes and misunderstanding, this is a delightful read, though it did exercise my brain to process all the social manoeuvring. Definitely requires you to take your time as there's some fantastic subtle insults that made me laugh over 200 years on after publishing. I adore the unreliable narration of Emma and was guessing the whole way on what I thought she was missing - just the right balance of hints towards a twist!
0.5 deducted due to it dragging a bit at times, for rapid-fire introduction of names that had me a bit dizzy to start the story off (before they were individually introduced later on), and for 'I loved you since you were 13' - according to social norms this was fine at the time so I won't judge too harshly, but it did make me cringe and it put a bit of a damper on what was otherwise a fantastic ending.
> YES will likely reread after completing Austen's other novels
> YES would recommend to those looking for a classic romance
Full of schemes and misunderstanding, this is a delightful read, though it did exercise my brain to process all the social manoeuvring. Definitely requires you to take your time as there's some fantastic subtle insults that made me laugh over 200 years on after publishing. I adore the unreliable narration of Emma and was guessing the whole way on what I thought she was missing - just the right balance of hints towards a twist!
0.5 deducted due to it dragging a bit at times, for rapid-fire introduction of names that had me a bit dizzy to start the story off (before they were individually introduced later on), and for 'I loved you since you were 13' - according to social norms this was fine at the time so I won't judge too harshly, but it did make me cringe and it put a bit of a damper on what was otherwise a fantastic ending.
> YES will likely reread after completing Austen's other novels
> YES would recommend to those looking for a classic romance
This was, put nicely, not very good. (I proceeded to add the rest of the series to my TBR after finishing this.)
There are so many things that just don't make any sense (the whole mafia subplot for one), a significant amount of "edginess" that made me cringe, and basically everything about Andrew baffles me. The medication side effects (plus the circumstances under which he takes said medication), randomly attacking people, his behaviour that gets forgiven by everyone around him? Not to mention it's chock full of plot holes and timeline confusion.
This writing very strongly reminds me of fanfiction I used to read in the early/mid 2010s, which is why I think I'm being entertained so much by it, and I have a soft spot for both slow burn and angst which this book has plenty of. If you don't interrogate the plot too critically I think this can be a fun read.
> NO, I won't reread this
> NO, I wouldn't recommend this
This was, put nicely, not very good. (I proceeded to add the rest of the series to my TBR after finishing this.)
There are so many things that just don't make any sense (the whole mafia subplot for one), a significant amount of "edginess" that made me cringe, and basically everything about Andrew baffles me. The medication side effects (plus the circumstances under which he takes said medication), randomly attacking people, his behaviour that gets forgiven by everyone around him? Not to mention it's chock full of plot holes and timeline confusion.
This writing very strongly reminds me of fanfiction I used to read in the early/mid 2010s, which is why I think I'm being entertained so much by it, and I have a soft spot for both slow burn and angst which this book has plenty of. If you don't interrogate the plot too critically I think this can be a fun read.
> NO, I won't reread this
> NO, I wouldn't recommend this
This honestly disappointed me. It wanted to be like My Dark Vanessa, and touched on some of the same topics as Lolita, however I feel those 2 titles handled the material far better.
Although I really liked McCurdy's prose in her autobiography, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much here. The constant tangential observations sometimes fleshed out character, but many felt like filler. Many of the themes such as self-image, toxic relationships, and shopping addiction were dealt with in a heavy-handed way - it was a repetitive cycle, all done very literally, and never really felt like it progressed. In fact, the ending seemed more like the natural end of infatuation, and driving off leaving unfinished business and loose ends really hammered in the fact that I don't feel Waldo actually developed much as a character at all through the story - only the relationship changed. If we want to continue the theme of Waldo making her mother's mistakes and the cycle of abuse, then judging by the ending, Waldo also seems doomed to fall into the same patterns rather than breaking the cycle, which made the whole book feel a bit unsatisfying.
Additionally the 'voice' of Waldo felt the same voice as in McCurdy's autobiography to me, which also detracted from the story she was trying to tell. Combined with some shared plot points such as Mormonism and single-parent families, I wish it read as more distinctly different.
Furthermore, as pointed out in another review on GR (that I think describes the issue far better), Mr. Korgy almost falls into being a tragic romantic at times in the story, which was absolutely not the intention (I can see he was meant to be more pathetic groomer). However that doesn't change the fact that I didn't completely like his portrayal, and once again I feel this was handled better in other works I've read before.
Overall I don't think this was bad per se, just I personally didn't like the prose or handling of the subject matter, and as a result after enjoying her previous autobiography so much it was a bit of a let-down.
> No, I will not be rereading (or re-listening)
> No, I would not recommend
This honestly disappointed me. It wanted to be like My Dark Vanessa, and touched on some of the same topics as Lolita, however I feel those 2 titles handled the material far better.
Although I really liked McCurdy's prose in her autobiography, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much here. The constant tangential observations sometimes fleshed out character, but many felt like filler. Many of the themes such as self-image, toxic relationships, and shopping addiction were dealt with in a heavy-handed way - it was a repetitive cycle, all done very literally, and never really felt like it progressed. In fact, the ending seemed more like the natural end of infatuation, and driving off leaving unfinished business and loose ends really hammered in the fact that I don't feel Waldo actually developed much as a character at all through the story - only the relationship changed. If we want to continue the theme of Waldo making her mother's mistakes and the cycle of abuse, then judging by the ending, Waldo also seems doomed to fall into the same patterns rather than breaking the cycle, which made the whole book feel a bit unsatisfying.
Additionally the 'voice' of Waldo felt the same voice as in McCurdy's autobiography to me, which also detracted from the story she was trying to tell. Combined with some shared plot points such as Mormonism and single-parent families, I wish it read as more distinctly different.
Furthermore, as pointed out in another review on GR (that I think describes the issue far better), Mr. Korgy almost falls into being a tragic romantic at times in the story, which was absolutely not the intention (I can see he was meant to be more pathetic groomer). However that doesn't change the fact that I didn't completely like his portrayal, and once again I feel this was handled better in other works I've read before.
Overall I don't think this was bad per se, just I personally didn't like the prose or handling of the subject matter, and as a result after enjoying her previous autobiography so much it was a bit of a let-down.
> No, I will not be rereading (or re-listening)
> No, I would not recommend
This was, put nicely, not very good. (I proceeded to add the rest of the series to my TBR after finishing this.)
There are so many things that just don't make any sense (the whole mafia subplot for one), a significant amount of "edginess" that made me cringe, and basically everything about Andrew baffles me. The medication side effects (plus the circumstances under which he takes said medication), randomly attacking people, his behaviour that gets forgiven by everyone around him? Not to mention it's chock full of plot holes and timeline confusion.
This writing very strongly reminds me of fanfiction I used to read in the early/mid 2010s, which is why I think I'm being entertained so much by it, and I have a soft spot for both slow burn and angst which this book has plenty of. If you don't interrogate the plot too critically I think this can be a fun read.
> NO, I won't reread this
> NO, I wouldn't recommend this
This was, put nicely, not very good. (I proceeded to add the rest of the series to my TBR after finishing this.)
There are so many things that just don't make any sense (the whole mafia subplot for one), a significant amount of "edginess" that made me cringe, and basically everything about Andrew baffles me. The medication side effects (plus the circumstances under which he takes said medication), randomly attacking people, his behaviour that gets forgiven by everyone around him? Not to mention it's chock full of plot holes and timeline confusion.
This writing very strongly reminds me of fanfiction I used to read in the early/mid 2010s, which is why I think I'm being entertained so much by it, and I have a soft spot for both slow burn and angst which this book has plenty of. If you don't interrogate the plot too critically I think this can be a fun read.
> NO, I won't reread this
> NO, I wouldn't recommend this