Tea
I will admit upfront, that this story isn’t my cup of tea. There were multiple things that could’ve been adjusted (all of which is personal taste preferences, not the fault of the author) however, I can see why countless really enjoy the book!
If I could say the prose was simply how everything was written, I hate to say that I might’ve rated the book lower. However, in a way, the prose becomes a plot device. It’s frank and leaves nothing behind to be minced or obscured. Surface level, it’s a fun read and with every page, every husband, it only illuminates more about Hugo’s life. From beginning to end, it’s easy to see how every moment has altered her and how she’ll approach future situations, how everything (within her control) will be manipulated and ensure her success in the end.
Diving deeper, the story changes it goes from a girl wanting to succeed her mother’s dream, to a young adult where she wants everything and what worked before quickly becomes boring, to someone where the weight of everything begins to splinter parts of herself and she finally decides to choose herself over pursuit of the next greatest thing.
This also could’ve been viewed as a story about insecurity and that no matter how much you exploit it, how well it remains hidden, it doesn’t go away with more fame/money/accolades. It hurts to think that despite everything Hugo still believes that a large part of her career is due to her appearance, due to her ability to incite sexual desire in everyone around her. That when she hits a wall, the same trick (just in a different font) will almost always get her through it and more.
The dry, no-nonsense, repetitive (in my opinion) writing style is crucial to this story working as well as it has. It isn’t simply a way the plot is delivered, instead it becomes a part of the plot. It provides further insight into Hugo’s mind, how she was feeling and thinking about the current situation. It can easily feel detached, it could easily be a couple hundred pages too long, however everything ended up in the right balance.
For waiting several years to read it (I watched a WithCindy review several years ago all of it forgotten but the impact still lives on), I am definitely walking away having learned a lot, with a lot to think on and several things to delve deeper into and potentially analyze at a later date.
For example, how Hugo managed to state everything as plainly as possible, but she still manages to be a mystery and how that simply is a part of herself that she can’t give up, that there might’ve been truth hidden in the truth that she doesn’t know exist or can confront just yet. Almost making the mystery of Hugo something that creates a sense of allure of the world towards her, but a defense mechanism (or sorts, that phrasing feels a bit too harsh or too niche to best describe what I’m thinking) for what has gone unsaid throughout the story.
I will admit upfront, that this story isn’t my cup of tea. There were multiple things that could’ve been adjusted (all of which is personal taste preferences, not the fault of the author) however, I can see why countless really enjoy the book!
If I could say the prose was simply how everything was written, I hate to say that I might’ve rated the book lower. However, in a way, the prose becomes a plot device. It’s frank and leaves nothing behind to be minced or obscured. Surface level, it’s a fun read and with every page, every husband, it only illuminates more about Hugo’s life. From beginning to end, it’s easy to see how every moment has altered her and how she’ll approach future situations, how everything (within her control) will be manipulated and ensure her success in the end.
Diving deeper, the story changes it goes from a girl wanting to succeed her mother’s dream, to a young adult where she wants everything and what worked before quickly becomes boring, to someone where the weight of everything begins to splinter parts of herself and she finally decides to choose herself over pursuit of the next greatest thing.
This also could’ve been viewed as a story about insecurity and that no matter how much you exploit it, how well it remains hidden, it doesn’t go away with more fame/money/accolades. It hurts to think that despite everything Hugo still believes that a large part of her career is due to her appearance, due to her ability to incite sexual desire in everyone around her. That when she hits a wall, the same trick (just in a different font) will almost always get her through it and more.
The dry, no-nonsense, repetitive (in my opinion) writing style is crucial to this story working as well as it has. It isn’t simply a way the plot is delivered, instead it becomes a part of the plot. It provides further insight into Hugo’s mind, how she was feeling and thinking about the current situation. It can easily feel detached, it could easily be a couple hundred pages too long, however everything ended up in the right balance.
For waiting several years to read it (I watched a WithCindy review several years ago all of it forgotten but the impact still lives on), I am definitely walking away having learned a lot, with a lot to think on and several things to delve deeper into and potentially analyze at a later date.
For example, how Hugo managed to state everything as plainly as possible, but she still manages to be a mystery and how that simply is a part of herself that she can’t give up, that there might’ve been truth hidden in the truth that she doesn’t know exist or can confront just yet. Almost making the mystery of Hugo something that creates a sense of allure of the world towards her, but a defense mechanism (or sorts, that phrasing feels a bit too harsh or too niche to best describe what I’m thinking) for what has gone unsaid throughout the story.
If you're looking for dystopian, it's not in the room with us. It's going to be more accurate to approach this book as a romantasy that has a dystopian visual filter on it.
Otherwise, the things I liked about this book was few and far between. However, I really did enjoy reading the second half of the book, despite feeling like the first half was a bit of a drag at times.
There definitely were moments where the plot felt very vague, I couldn't understand why attraction was such a large factor throughout the book (this could just be me, not having enough life experience), some chapters it felt like were thrown in to simply beef up the page count and kinda allude to something else in the story or the characters. I am more of a person where even a good side character will help keep me reading and I fell in love with multiple characters throughout this book. I also loved the idea of sharing several reports/assignment grades throughout the book! It was really fun to see a bit more about the other characters and what they might've thought and could behave like.
The hard choices made honestly, were impossible to make especially in the situation that the mc was in. However, with every choice made, it becomes more clear that the mc prioritizes their conscience being as clear as possible, over the desires and wants of the other person. Then expects the person to forgive them within a couple months, since what happened was significantly better than what should've happened. The mc also is incredibly lucky that main romantic lead, happens to be who they are because if they weren't this book would be fundamentally different on so many different levels but also the plot (or what little there typically is there) would have to be different, since so many things that happened in this book only happened because the romantic lead is who they were.
Some of the twists throughout the book had me shook, others felt very cliche, some were easily predictable. Plus, plenty of people haunt the narrative. The main character at the beginning and end of the book they do feel a bit unrecognizable in some aspects in both a good and bad way, they're in a constant state of tug-of-war and they find comfort or solace in specific people. Almost a constant war inside them to do what they must to survive, but it also requires them to go against some of their most fundamental beliefs about themselves.
If you're looking for dystopian, it's not in the room with us. It's going to be more accurate to approach this book as a romantasy that has a dystopian visual filter on it.
Otherwise, the things I liked about this book was few and far between. However, I really did enjoy reading the second half of the book, despite feeling like the first half was a bit of a drag at times.
There definitely were moments where the plot felt very vague, I couldn't understand why attraction was such a large factor throughout the book (this could just be me, not having enough life experience), some chapters it felt like were thrown in to simply beef up the page count and kinda allude to something else in the story or the characters. I am more of a person where even a good side character will help keep me reading and I fell in love with multiple characters throughout this book. I also loved the idea of sharing several reports/assignment grades throughout the book! It was really fun to see a bit more about the other characters and what they might've thought and could behave like.
The hard choices made honestly, were impossible to make especially in the situation that the mc was in. However, with every choice made, it becomes more clear that the mc prioritizes their conscience being as clear as possible, over the desires and wants of the other person. Then expects the person to forgive them within a couple months, since what happened was significantly better than what should've happened. The mc also is incredibly lucky that main romantic lead, happens to be who they are because if they weren't this book would be fundamentally different on so many different levels but also the plot (or what little there typically is there) would have to be different, since so many things that happened in this book only happened because the romantic lead is who they were.
Some of the twists throughout the book had me shook, others felt very cliche, some were easily predictable. Plus, plenty of people haunt the narrative. The main character at the beginning and end of the book they do feel a bit unrecognizable in some aspects in both a good and bad way, they're in a constant state of tug-of-war and they find comfort or solace in specific people. Almost a constant war inside them to do what they must to survive, but it also requires them to go against some of their most fundamental beliefs about themselves.