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notlikethebeer's review against another edition
2.0
A very interesting book. The descriptions of London (and New York) were incredibly evocative and atmospheric, and made for some incredible passages that completely drew me in. The overarching plot itself I really liked: others have critiqued the fact that we are aware the relationship is doomed from the start, but I thought that was actually one of this novel's strongest points, though that might just be personal preference. It became a journey not of what was going to happen, but how; and- I found- made the novel more complex and intriguing. Similarly the journey of the protagonists feelings was captured fantastically. However (because there's always a however!), I really didn't like any of the characters: I found them highly naive and pretentious. The dialogue was ridiculous to say the least, and often incomprehensible. The protagonist especially was just incredibly ingenuous, despite her history and experiences, which made her really difficult to relate to or empathise with. Similarly, I found Jack as a character hard to fall in love with, because there was so little to him- which I know is part of it, I'm all for him being mysterious!- I just needed more of a reason to see why the protagonist fell for him, and I wanted to fall for him myself.
So yeah, an interesting read: highly evocative, but ultimately uncompelling.
So yeah, an interesting read: highly evocative, but ultimately uncompelling.