Ok so this is a very conflicting book for many reasons. My reaction at the end is why in the fuck would he >!take the blame for James killing Richard?!< Yes I’m aware they have a connection. Yes I’m aware it’s later revealed >!that they are in love with each other!< Personally I thought him and Meredith were better together than him and James. Oliver’s actions throughout the whole book are asinine. In the end I can’t help but dislike him. Almost every character in the book is unlikable for me. Even then it’s a great story and I would love for it to get a movie. The way this story has divided the community and the way it could carry over to the movie community is enough to titillate my juices for quite some time.
I don’t like Oliver and I definitely did not like Richard. The way that Oliver >!sort of made himself into a martyr and took the blame for something he didn’t do!< is the very thing I would not do even for someone I love. Either way this story gets 3 stars for me. Not exactly a book people would consider perfect but one that is a very creative and emotional read and will leave the reader feeling shocked and conflicted at the end. It will leave you asking and answering the question of how far would you go and what would you do. Highly suggest it for a book club or a college/high school English class.
by Longjumping_Gain_807
4 Comments
i feel you on this, oliver’s choices were frustrating. the characters were hard to root for, but the story still had me hooked. 3 stars sounds about right.
I have never read a dark academia novel with lovable, wholesome characters who didn’t make stupid life choices. Also, this is very obviously inspired by Shakespearean tragedies and these aren’t exactly known for likeable characters and smart choices either. So the book definitely accomplished what it set out to do but of course it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Same goes for the ending – I think it’s perfect but if you don’t like ambiguous open(ish) endings you’ll hate it.
I thought it was less supposed to be a shocking ending and more supposed to be like a Shakespearean tragedy. You see it coming from a mile away—you know Oliver was in prison for a murder he (probably?) didn’t commit. You know people will be making terrible choices. You can see it coming like a car crash, almost like the characters are in a play, playing their roles as tragic heroes. It’s supposed to be tragic like “this is always how it was going to end up”. Plus it was fairly obvious that Oliver and James were in love and trying to deny it.
So incredibly frustrated by the fact that the timing didn’t make any sense. The amount of time that it clearly would’ve taken for anyone to run to the house and get help >!if you’re paying attention is too much time to have saved anyone, especially adding in the help being dispatched and arriving!< The guilt and cover up were all for nothing. I… didn’t get that part.