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Bezig met laden... The Year of the Gadflydoor Jennifer Miller
Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Well written and not very enjoyable. My stomach was turned by Lily's victimization, Hazel was an unconvincing evil mastermind. Jonah's character was surprisingly well rounded. As with all New England prep school novels I have read, it made me glad not to have attended a New England prep school. ( ) I read this for one of my bookclubs, which was enticed to read it as part of the author's promotion strategy to set a record on the number of bookclubs she would attend over a set period of time. It took awhile to get into it and I found it rather troubling, particularly since some shocking revelations were recently made about the private school my children attended back in the 80s and 90s. It is well-written and shifting the narrative among different characters worked for me. I can't say I would recommend it to others -- if someone has an interest in this type of story, I think Donna Tartt's The Secret History is a better choice. I wanted to like Year of the Gadfly so much. Prep school hijinks, secret societies, a coming of age tale! What’s there not to like? And yet the execution of a great-sounding premise didn’t hit the mark. Initially the story seemed like a promising look at ideas about conformity, the hyper competitiveness in high achieving students, as well as issues like bullying, guilt, and jealousy. But halfway through the book, I had to do some heavy skimming (mostly through the flashbacks) because I lost hope that the story would pull me in. The story unfolds through the eyes of Iris Dupont, the new kid at a prep school in Massachusetts, who investigates a secret society that’s taken upon itself the role to render judgment and punishment for those it sees as deviating from the morals and principles underpinning the school. Are they the good guys as they paint themselves to be or are they just bullies? Alternating with Iris’ chapters are those told in the view of one of Iris’ teachers, Jonah Kaplan, who was a former student at the school and seems to be hiding some secrets himself. Interspersed throughout are flashbacks told from the view of another student. These multiple points of view just didn’t work in this book. Had the book just stuck with Iris, maybe I’d have been more engaged. Tons of books do multiple perspectives and do so effectively, but in Year of the Gadfly, it wasn’t smooth. The mystery that’s supposed to be revealed layer by layer couldn’t survive the jumps and interruptions.
If there weren't already a push to shelve certain books as New Adult, The Year of the Gadfly would create the genre ex nihilo. It is the ideal crossover work; a perfect introduction to literary fiction for those who might otherwise choose books based on movie trailers and cross-promotions at Taco Bell. Onderscheidingen
A budding teen journalist and her enigmatic science teacher separately work to locate and infiltrate a secret society that threatens their elite prep school with a shady tragedy from the past, an event that challenges the student's allegiances. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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