Review - Go Set a Watchman

Go Set a Watchmen by Harper Lee

* Spoilers are highlighted like so: :)

3 gnomes out of 5 gnomes

This is how I felt about a third of the way through this book:

“I really don’t know what to think of this book yet. It was written a long time ago so it’s moving a lot slower than what I usually read but I do find myself drawn into the story. A couple of parts have had me wondering so far but I am curious how it all ends...”

This is not what I was expecting at all. I expected something big but this book was small and off putting. I’m also very glad that this was not the first book published. I know it’s a product of its time and was actually written a long time ago but wow some of this book just felt very weird while reading.

After finishing the whole book I kind of wished she had just run off with Dill to have adventures and maybe married him.

The flashbacks to her youth were by far the best parts of the books. The only flaw there I think is the very disturbing scene where she’s planning to commit suicide because she thinks she’s pregnant. Let’s just say she got some wrong info from people at school.

Jem’s death bothered me too because they were just so nonchalant about it. Atticus even tells her at some point in the book to pretty much move on/get over it.

Don’t go into this book expecting a big court case again. It’s more of a character study of her going home to visit and seeing how everything has changed. The only part I really understood was the whole hero worship bit, the way it was handled though wasn’t exactly subtle. 

Also not subtle, the racism in the book. I really would have liked to see all the different points of view from each character, I think that might have made the book more well rounded.