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kaylielongley's review against another edition
4.0
This was a haunting, tragic look at how faith can lead to blindness. Growing up, my family transitioned from a non-denominational mega church to a tiny Protestant one, and so religion became routine. It wasn't until college did I realize faith is personal. Likewise, Nicole in The Devoted leans toward Zen Buddhism yet is surrounded by Catholics in Boston. Most of this book is about searching for balance between escaping and living, deception and truth, and Eastern and Western faiths.
The book uses letters, Buddhist koans (fables), and third person omniscient pov, so there's plenty of social commentary. This leads to multiple timeframes of telling (not really showing) Nicole's story, including the mass shuttering of Catholic churches, which parallels her own seduction by her Buddhist Master. She's too blind/devoted/attached to see it. Truly, this book is heartbreaking, from her boyfriend's unexpected death to Nicole finally standing up for herself. I was genuinely surprised by how much I cared for, and resonated with, Nicole while reading this.
The book uses letters, Buddhist koans (fables), and third person omniscient pov, so there's plenty of social commentary. This leads to multiple timeframes of telling (not really showing) Nicole's story, including the mass shuttering of Catholic churches, which parallels her own seduction by her Buddhist Master. She's too blind/devoted/attached to see it. Truly, this book is heartbreaking, from her boyfriend's unexpected death to Nicole finally standing up for herself. I was genuinely surprised by how much I cared for, and resonated with, Nicole while reading this.
nixieknox's review against another edition
3.0
This kept showing up on reviewers' lists, so despite the relatively low reader ratings I read it, and I'm glad I did! I don't want to give too much away but I will say that as a very firm atheist the hold religion had on Nicole was very foreign to me, so I couldn't empathize much with her but I did enjoy learning about her past life and how it affected her present. The first couple of chapters were yuck, I cringed at every word, but I kept going and it got better. Not because the writing was bad but because of the characters and their relationships.
aetataureate's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
i loved this. it's about a woman who has been a seeker all her life, whose spiritual life becomes entwined with how much she feels she must atone for what she thinks she's done wrong. like self flagellation and some kind of purifying. and it's about a predatory spiritual leader. i loved learning about the main character's lifelong journey to understand the world and how it was kind of a smokescreen for avoiding understanding and forgiving herself. very beautiful and creative story.
ljjohnson8's review against another edition
2.0
A self-assured debut novel. Hurley did a decent job with her switching timelines storylines, only getting bogged down a little. Nicole is an Irish-Catholic Boston girl, coming of age during the priest scandals. That, along with difficulties with her mentally ill mother, sends her on a spiritual quest that leads her to Buddhism. After a series of events (no spoilers here) derails her life, she becomes in thrall to a Buddhist master (hmmmm, some similarities to those Catholic priests going on here...). The story kept my interest sometimes and totally lost it at others. There was too much clunkiness - about the Buddhism especially. Some interesting side characters (brother Paul, bf Sean) but not enough time with them or insight into them. Paul, pretty much a saint throughout, is awkwardly given a massive flaw near the end of the novel. Bottom line: I closed the book with a shrug and a ho-hum.
kdhanda's review against another edition
3.0
Intriguing premise: the loss of one's faith, in this case, Catholicism, and conversion to Zen Buddhism. However, the narrator falls for her Zen master who exploits her trust as a means to his control. Read this novel since I wanted to know what happens to those who lose their faith. The novel structure starts at the present and then we learn about what got the narrator to this point. The high point of the book were the passages and koans from Zen texts.
mamacwells's review against another edition
5.0
Nicole ran away from home and her Catholic upbringing at the age of seventeen. Now 32, she is still processing the outcomes of that decision as she navigates life as a devoted Buddhist. Her Zen Master (her roshi) has been a controlling, manipulative force in her life for 10 years, and she is ready to break free and find herself. But the ghosts of her past and present follow her everywhere. Highly recommended for fans of literary fiction, character development, and exploration of religion in shaping people and communities.
brighteyed's review against another edition
2.0
I was disappointed to see that throughout this book, despite the main character claiming that she is a "real" Buddhist, unlike other white Buddhists, the author treated traditional Buddhist communities in Tibet and China as terrifying and foreign. All of the main characters in this novel were white, and Buddhists of other races were presented as props to aid Nicole's spiritual journey. I was excited for the psychological portions of this book, but this complete oversight and simplification of a complex religion was actively irritating throughout the novel.
This book treats Buddhism as a gimmick philosophy that can easily be twisted into a type of cultish devotion without any real intellectual analysis as to why Eastern religions are so commonly appropriated as an exotic escape from the mundane lives of Americans. Instead of any form of self-reflection on East-West relations, the author externalizes Buddhism and somehow makes a book about Zen into a book about white Bostonians. One quote really made me see her view - "Now they were Bostonians again; not Zen students;" as if one cannot be both.
Clearly Nicole uses Buddhism as a way to rebel against her Catholic roots. However, this analysis of her shallow interest in the religion is never expressed, and instead she is portrayed as a genuinely "devoted" follower. I think this book could have been really beautiful if it more deeply discussed this element, but instead feels like a poor erotica that fetishizes Buddhism.
This book treats Buddhism as a gimmick philosophy that can easily be twisted into a type of cultish devotion without any real intellectual analysis as to why Eastern religions are so commonly appropriated as an exotic escape from the mundane lives of Americans. Instead of any form of self-reflection on East-West relations, the author externalizes Buddhism and somehow makes a book about Zen into a book about white Bostonians. One quote really made me see her view - "Now they were Bostonians again; not Zen students;" as if one cannot be both.
Clearly Nicole uses Buddhism as a way to rebel against her Catholic roots. However, this analysis of her shallow interest in the religion is never expressed, and instead she is portrayed as a genuinely "devoted" follower. I think this book could have been really beautiful if it more deeply discussed this element, but instead feels like a poor erotica that fetishizes Buddhism.
alsmilesalot's review against another edition
Kept wondering if I was missing something given all the positive buzz. This was a slog for me
mslaura's review against another edition
3.0
Ratings:
Writing 4
Story line 3
Characters 2
Emotional impact 2
Overall rating 2.75
Writing 4
Story line 3
Characters 2
Emotional impact 2
Overall rating 2.75