SPOILER ALERT
This is by far my most frustrating read ever. It’s just too long and dragging. Took me over a year to finish this because I just kindof got tired of nothing much happening. There’s no pivotal moment, no character development, nothing drives the book, not the characters, not the plot, it’s just there to make you feel bad from all the misery that Jude has endured. That’s all there is.
Overly contrived and overwritten, it’s the misery porn that makes it a heavy read, but once you get tired of crying you realize that there’s no credibility to Jude’s story at all. It’s just a series of traumatic events that he doesn’t seem to want to get over with, despite being surrounded with people who are more than willing to help you recover. It becomes unbelievable to the point where you wonder what the point is in all this writing.
I rated it 3/5 because mostly because of the writing style, but plot-wise there’s nothing to it.
And I hated Jude. I do not get his appeal. He’s just mysterious and intelligent but that’s it. And even his alleged intelligence isn’t convincing. All he ever feels is sorry and there’s not much depth to his character besides his dark backstory. I find it surprising how everyone is so drawn to him. And for that I blame the author.
At one point I also questioned what kind of friendship they all have that after decades of being in each others lives they still haven’t managed to crack Jude. They’re all walking on eggshells around him, enabling his self-harm. That’s no real friendship for me.
Overall it feels unnecessarily stretched out.