Its follows the relationship between 2 people who individually struggle with self love and mental health. Yet they always see the other as this beautiful aspirational character. And this combination of self loafing + admiration + inability to be vulnerable just leads to miscommunication n missing out on each other

It captures the nuances of experiencing great fear great pain and great joy all at the same time that is the human experience

How can a story be so far removed from any perceptible reality yet resonate so deeply

So so plot. Beautiful, breathtaking, prose. Worth it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
*Satisfied sigh*
I love historic fiction.
That being said, I found this rendition slightly less artful than some others, but still worth the read for the neglected population it addresses

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Something about powerful beings sunk in petty humanness of pride and envy envokes that twelve year old in me that read and reread and drew charts and diagrams of Greek myths.

I am completely in awe at Miller's art that fulfills both the awed child and the teenager who lusts for blood and love and meaning.

⭐⭐⭐
I'm afraid this book flew right over my head.
It was obvious that this here was a master at work, but in a field so far from my comfort that I fail to see the work in all its glory. Hence, my praise does it no justice.

Reading this for me, was like watching a human train wreck. The slippery slope of drugs and deceit was repulsive, all the more because it echoed what our hearts know is true. I knew it would crash, and I could not look away.

I have not the mastery of words to sing praises dealing any remote semblance of that due to this mastey

The original works easily dethrones the movie trilogy as my long standing favorite piece of art.

This is no small feat given the 20+ academy awards the movie trilogy holds. This only goes to highlight for me the magic of literature, which allows the imagination to outperform cinema in every conceivable aspect.

🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠
🌟🌟🌟Tolkien 🌟🌟🌟🌟
🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

Need I say more?

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This read helped me realize why I adore historic fiction so much.

The details of war are repulsive and terrible to read about, which is why they MUST be documented and widely spread - to prevent us from reliving our past mistakes.

Bernières‘ ability to weave hate and love proves that the world is not black and white, and war does not make good and bad men, only good and bad deeds.

It took me a long while to toil through this one. Satirically, the author's own afterword prophesized the fact that my immense respect and awe for Kidder's Farmer gave rise to the moral envy that had me throwing down the book in throes of green envy.

Definitely a read for those of us out there vying to change the world but remain convinced of our Tony insignificant in the grand scheme of things

⭐⭐
FINALLY, I've finished this book. It has been a long two months. Tbh, I have no idea what I have just read. This Nobel prize winning piece is incomprehensible to me. There is no purpose, no theme, no journey, no story.... perhaps I am limited in my understanding of this "masterpiece" by my lack of literature experience. Or maybe the English translation simply fails to do the original work justice. Either way, what are your thoughts on this one?

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
So it's been a month since I finished this, and the reason why I've waited this long to post is because there are simply some books for which the words to describe escape you. I feel so hostage to the wealth of emotions: rage, frustration, impending doom this book evokes; I am completely under-equipped to react.

REVIEW PART 2:
Then I realized: Tis not only I waiting for the happily ever after to be written; The descendants of Cora and her band: the ones who live beside us today are waiting still for a God to do them right. To be treated with equity in a society descend from wealthy plantation families. For the black man to be considered equal of the white both consciously and SUBCONSCIOUSLY. We have come so far, but there is far yet damage to unravel.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A historic account with a message for today! Couldn't fit review into 450

PART 1:

My first thought on reaching the last page of this journey: "Thief! Lier!"

How I felt cheated of an un-promised happy ending to a book whoes title preaches hope. How I wanted Ridgeway to wake from the error of his ways; How I wanted Royal and Cora to tie the knot and build a new life together; How I wished the story went on until the wronged were righted!

⭐⭐⭐⭐
I got into this book having seen it's movie, and now feel that this is one of the few instances when the film transcends written word. While the movie was a gripping emotional ride full of tragedy and Susie possessed a premature maturity, I felt the book presented more of a homey little girl narration lacking the emotional timbre of the film.

That said, great book, wonderfully fresh perspective, powerful story of loss and reconciliation 👍

⭐⭐⭐⭐
A fun if distressing read (because if the ending). Gregory's attention to detail and empathy for the human psychology is enhanced by her vivid imagination, lending a fully immersive narrative into medieval politics. Will definitely seek out more of her books!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is one of the bravest books I have ever read. I can only imagine the balls it took to have written it.
Small Great Things discusses BIG TRAGIC THINGS that are day to day experiences for so any people. It does one of the most important things in paving a path to equity: forcing upon the isolated a realization of what happens outside our safe social economic bubble.

MUST READ!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A post-war impact story spanning five generations brings into focus how quiet commands of the few and powerful in their leather padded offices can have far reaching consequences spanning geography and time.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This work swung me mercilessly from nail biting anxiety for the POWs, and speechless wonder in face of the ethereal scenes of Mount Kenya that Benuzzi has artfully penned to life.

Never before have I read a work so very like the depictions of a master landscape artist. Benuzzi leaves just enough unsaid to allow our imagination to take up the brush and complete a rendering of Mount Kenya unique to each reader.

⭐⭐⭐
A thrilling read to be sure. Great pacing in the unfolding of clues, intriguing plot, spicy with historic half-truths. Set in Shanghai and rich with Chinese culture, TMC brings something fresh to the detective genre. But that is the extent of my praise for this book. Perhaps because I've been doing some heftier reading lately (Tolstoy, Orwell, Hemingway), this novel fails to ignite philosophical curiosity as some classics do.

⭐
The story of four young women setting aside personal ambition to pursue docile domesticity; A book filled to the brim with moralizing lectures for "young women" to be demure, submissive, and unconditionally self-sacrificing....

My recommendation? Read this, if only to realize our privilege of living in a time when little girls are encouraged to dream big dreams and when "Little Women" continues to be marketed as a "must read for young girls".

Digging into a longer read after "The Old Man and The Sea"

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Just finished this masterpiece. Each and every word is where it should be, each word has purpose and meaning. Also, terrible feeling of melancholy in the last pages of the book.

You can pick this up and finish reading it within the span of one afternoon in the coffee shop. Then, you can go home and finish thinking** about it over the next 5 years.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Freakishly mesmerizing

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My third time reading through this letter addressed to the scared little girl living inside each of us, my tears flowed as never before.

This is the type of book that wretches you heart so brutally that you want to fling it out the window, yet you stay your hand, because somehow in these heartfelt pages, you see traces of your own story.

Reading this as the new HK-China extradition law is being debated. “He who control the present control the past - He who controls the past controls the future” Food for thought.