Comments | ninety6tears: In which I finally talk about The Likeness (and also talk a bit more about In The Woods)

ninety6tears

In which I finally talk about The Likeness (and also talk a bit more about In The Woods)

Jun 28, 2011 15:33

Once again, there's an element of near-to-but-not-really-fantasy to French's work, and with The Likeness the premise is quite a bit more uncanny, and is the driving force of the plot rather than something winking from the edges ( Read more... )

book reviews, books, dublin murder squad series

Comments 10

callmeonetrack June 28 2011, 21:10:27 UTC

It makes me happy to read this, although I don't really have a ton to say! And now I want to re-read both books again! I will say the dynamic you describe between KaraCassie and Sam really rings true. I can definitely see future tension rising over the job and the pervasive vague feeling of guilt for being herself rising in the long run, even if he is so very accepting/forgiving of it now ( ... )

ninety6tears June 29 2011, 03:24:32 UTC

From what I know about The Secret History I can see why the comparisons were made. Have you read it/did you like it?

. I do remember being slightly confused late in the book when it was revealed that there was a link of some sort between them, wasn't there? A missing ID maybe? I...I don't remember this! LOL, but I do completely miss things sometimes. It should be more fresh in my boyfriend's mind since he just read it so I might ask him.

callmeonetrack June 29 2011, 21:14:20 UTC

I did read the Secret History a very long time ago. I liked it, but I found the book overall kind of slow and frustrating. So I liked the Likeness treatment much better.

EtA: I may totally be making that up about the ID thing. I thought there was something about the girl seeing Cassie's ID that she had lost pinned up on a board somewhere but...I think I'm conflating other things now and getting confused. Ignore me!

cosetteferaud June 29 2011, 14:53:55 UTC

I really enjoyed this review (so much of what you wrote resonates with me), though I feel I don’t have much to add -as it usually happens with things that hits you to the core, I find it somewhat difficult to articulate any thoughts about this book. I feel I have so much to say about Cassie and those people, but words seem to fail me ;P ( ... )

ninety6tears June 30 2011, 03:59:37 UTC

I love that you mention that feather duvet comparison, because that was definitely one part where I had to go "Oh dear, she's supposed to be in love with this guy?" And just...their entire dynamic earlier was seemingly built around the way someone reacts in a relationship when they know that they don't quite feel as invested in it as the other person. It's hard for me to not have a lot of confidence in there being something cogent in her ending up with Sam in that it's more the realistic than the happy ending, but given that Tana wrote In The Woods first and had to be consistent with it, it almost seems like in the process of really filling out Cassie's point of view the characterization didn't really cooperate with the ending that the INW timeline already prescribes, and the result is an unconvincing emotional epiphany that comes in at the last minute.

I guess I found it comforting to see that Cassie was as distraught as I was that the second story didn’t involve him LOL Yeah, totally. In some ways it might have been a much more ( ... )

cosetteferaud June 30 2011, 15:36:56 UTC

it almost seems like in the process of really filling out Cassie's point of view the characterization didn't really cooperate with the ending that the INW timeline already prescribes, and the result is an unconvincing emotional epiphany that comes in at the last minuteYeah. Given how the Cassie and Sam’s relationship is depicted throughout the book, her realization came across as a bit OOC, but... I don’t know. I struggle so much with the fact that Cassie and Sam seemed to have zero chemistry (as much as I tried, I couldn’t get invested at all in their relationship). I am sure Tana could have made us care a bit more about Cassie and Sam if she had decided to go this route, so I have to assume that the their dynamic was a very calculated decision by her ( ... )

ninety6tears June 30 2011, 19:47:44 UTC

I was weirdly comforted when I came across some random people in the comments of the Amazon reviews who had a lot of problems with how Sam and Cassie were developed...and there was one person who was confident that nothing Tana was doing with it was accidental and that it isn't supposed to be a perfect relationship. I really hope that they're right...French really does make readers do a lot of work with all her unreliable perspectives, which I love, but sometimes I just wanted to shake Cassie and be like "WHAT IS GOING ON IN YOUR HEAD ( ... )

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