3 Stars
Trust is like a cup. Broken, you can no longer drink from it. It can be mended, but it takes something precious to remake it into something beautiful. And, it takes effort.
This is a very touching story with a large cast of secondary characters that helped form the facets of Oskar and Marco through their interactions. At the same time, this is an extraordinarily frustrating story. By the end, I wasn't happy, more relieved.
Problem is, told from Marco's viewpoint we get this perfect storm for a "misunderstanding" and angst stirring. And I'll argue theirs wasn't a misunderstanding as much as a lack of information on Marco's part. Quantifiably, Oskar was a dickhead. And this is where I have a huge issue with stories trying to play tug-of-war with readers' emotions. It was Oskar's responsibility to atone for his wrongdoings, and nothing pisses me off like the aggrieved party being guilted or somehow convinced that it is their responsibility to make the first overture. F@#K NO! Forgiveness may be granted or not--it is the wronged party's choice-AFTER the instigating party fulfills their duty by acts of contrition.
I think I just have a fundamental difference than some other people. Forgiveness and trust are earned, not given out like party favors. So, this part of the story really didn't work for me, at all. Does it end well? Yes. Do they finally make strides to resolve their issues--Yes. But, the pleasure in reading was dimmed because the way they accomplished it did not appeal to me. Clearly, this is my pet peeve and may be irrelevant to other readers. YMMV.
Overall, angsty friends to enemies to lovers' story.
No comments:
Post a Comment