Washington Square

I'm left wondering what the whole point of this book was. The plot is basically what you read in the blurb, and even if you went in without reading the blurb, you could probably tell how the story's going to unfold within the first few chapters anyway. It took at least 25 agonizing chapters for the story to reach a pivotal moment that we saw coming from the beginning. I definitely found the second act of the book a lot more engaging than the first, where we finally get past that long-awaited moment in the story and can finally get on to finding out what happens to the characters after.

There's probably a deeper point to this story that I'm not getting. I didn't hate it, but I'm not really sure if I'd reread it again. I give it 3 stars because I quite enjoyed the writing style, especially in the first few chapters before we embarked on watching a train wreck happening in extreme slow-motion.

What a melodramatic rollercoaster ride and I enjoyed every minute.

Dr. Sloper is the coldest, unmoving monolith of a father. No one is spared from his articulate and analytical observations, not even his sister, Mrs. Lavinia Penniman, or his daughter, Catherine.

The things this man said about his daughter gave me chills. With a father like that, who needs enemies.

I wish he would've pointed his ruthlessness at his sister a little more because my goodness! That woman was hilariously insufferable. I almost threw the book down a few times when she wedged her nose where it didn't belong countless times, and still thought herself a hero to lovers everywhere.

What a fun read with meticulous insight into the rules of social class and finances of the time.