Reviews

The Porpoise by Mark Haddon

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geovanachi's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

yurika1216's review

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

1.75

rereader33's review against another edition

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2.0

Yes, I skimmed through about 60% of this book. And I have ZERO SHAME in doing this because I was not going to give this book all of my attention, it didn't deserve it.

For those that are curious, the reason why this 2 stars rather than 1 is because the writing was good most of the time and the story was pretty competent. That's it.

I will say, if this novel did anything, it made me more aware of how vital dialogue is in defining/bringing a character to life. I received this epiphany at the 26 page mark when it dawned on me that if someone went up to me right then and there and asked me to describe any of the characters, I would barely be able to do so because there was LITTLE TO NO DIALOGUE. Everything about the characters was told to us, and let me tell you, it is much harder to retain facts about someone if there's nothing to back up those facts, more specifically dialogue.

What made this so clear to me is that, as an avid manga fan, I'm so used to dialogue and actions defining a character that I could describe most without batting an eye. Hell, YA practically thrive off of their dialogue and most people recognize characters by their language or tone rather than physical appearance. Here? All I gathered, throughout this entire book, is that Phillipe is obsessed with his daughter, is an asshole (what a shocker), and doesn't trust people. Herve is an emotionless, apathetic asshole who's okay with killing people. Angelica...ummm...shit...she doesn't initially resist her father and then does when Darius arrives, then doesn't, then does again by refusing to eat and talk? I guess? Are those even defining quality trait? I don't think they are. I'm sure more scholarly folk are going explain how "deep" and "interesting" all of these characters are, and good on you. That means you got way more out of this novel than I did. *slow claps*

Finally, I was not impressed by the Pericles side of the story. There was more dialogue than the Phillipe/Angelica side, but it was still predominantly tell don't show. Don't care, skimmed most of it.

Oh, right, the ending. Didn't really get it, was it that both worlds came together to rescue Angelica or something? Don't know, wasn't that invested.

Sorry, guys. I actually had pretty high hopes for this novel, but it was not good. I don't recommend it, if you want a modern Greek myth retelling that deals with timely issues, read The Cassandra by: Sharm Shields. Skip this one.

motherofladybirds's review against another edition

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1.0

The story of an abused teenager retreating into myth and story before giving up her life. This book was unpleasant at the start and self consciously clever throughout. Burning who death was too good for him. Explored misogyny through the ages. It was not enough for me that Diana the virgin huntress existed amidst all the terrible males, particularly when she arrived too late to save Angelica.