Grace Batcha > Recent Status Updates

i was 17 when i picked up this book, not knowing i would leave it unfinished for 7 years. i found myself yearning to go back to 17 - reading a copy i borrowed from mom, when i didn't have things figured out, and this book was a poetic expression of beauty, truth and discovery. i hesitated to start again, the life i lived at 17 - the chance to read it for the first time were already gone.

I loved this book. It was beautiful and tragic. I wonder why Cory changed her name and why she always turned Liam down

This is really tragic. I can’t imagine going through life, watching my soulmate live theirs but knowing we will never be together. Building a house with them I know we will never live in. Marrying three other people, having kids while pinning over your love from 30 years ago. Knowing that she is too scared to take a chance on you.

I DNFd because I didn’t like the idea of modern America but magic and dragons?

Parts 1-3: it seems like my statuses got deleted. Rodion kills for a theory, but there is no end to his means. I’m not sure where his delirium stems from guilt or self loathing for not being the type whom has the right to kill.

He kills 2 peasant women. Afterwards, he’s unable to look himself in the mirror. He self punishes yet is reluctant to confess.

Part 4 of crime and punishment: the only family and real support systems he has were women. And then he kills 2 and corrupts one, traumatizing all 3 with the axe murders.

I don’t think napoleon gained notoriety through killing helpless women. Napoleon was an outsider, who had to pave his own way, was banished to undesirable posts where he used his military acumen to prove his worth

Part 3 of crime and punishment: he feels if he can’t kill than he is a no one. Since the killing, he has been barely lucid. He admits these feelings to a woman who he considers to be a child, corrupting her.

The whole book he is victimizing himself while taking no action or accountability for his life. ‘I murdered myself, not her…it was the devil who killed the old woman’

Part 2 on Crime and Punishment: he wanted to find out whether he was ‘a louse like everyone else or a man’ so again he kills 2 working class women.

In his mind, the end justifies the mean. If you are an important revolutionary, you can justify killing because it is a means to an end. But what was interesting is that he admits there was no reason for the killing.

So rodion finally admits why he killed…to see if he had the mental capacity to do so? All of the great revolutionaries , knew that in order to evoke change, they had to cross moral boundaries that the general populace wouldn’t cross.

But instead of killing anyone who deserves it, he kills 2 women. realizes he doesn’t have the gumption to be what he deems a revolutionary - he can’t stomach it, he is no one

It’s clear that the main character is a complete psycho. It’s very ironic that he has such strict moral values about crime and the type of person who can commit crime but he cannot live with himself for the crimes he has committed. I feel he is judgmental of those around him but it’s unable to look at himself with the same level of scrutiny. I’m interested to see if he can to reflect on his transgressions

i really like this book so far. there is so much to imagine and i can see myself in the main character!

Is phillipose mentally disturbed? I used to love this character and now I feel a hatred towards him that I never felt for anyone. I feel so bad for Elsie. She thought that she was free but she has become imprisoned by him. Just such a tragic situation. Hope it gets better for them

I didn't realize how much i would like this book. I am intrigued by the main character and now they brought in another story line with a man from the british isles. i wasn't expecting that. it might take me a while to warm up to him...seems like a lost soul

I love this book so far. super informative and compelling. feeling like im reading an alternate history. so sad bc i wish more of history was told with an emphasis on the impact women have. i think if i knew more about medieval europe i may be better prepared to read this book

This is not just a book for Christians. How do you interpret what you read? Is it fate or chaos? How do you bridge the gap between belief and knowledge? Do we misjudge or misinterpret because we don't take the time to understand? so many thought provoking topics through the lens of a devils advocate