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Esther is an interesting but (in my eyes) unsympathetic character. She has a certain manipulative streak that unsettles me. But she makes up for it by being quite humorous at times, intentional or not. Sometimes I can't quite tell if she is self aware enough of herself.

Plath, however, is completely self aware. She inserts humour in unexpected places. She makes acute observations about the characters. She is a little cynical. It's evident that Plath is in a precocious place in her psyche. And she turns it into a beautiful work of art.

It would be remiss to praise Plath but not address her racism in this book. She continuously uses "Chinaman/woman" as descriptor and an insult. She writes a grotesque caricature of a Black man in one scene. It did not wholely take me out of the reading though, since it seems very in line with Esther's character, but it is something that should be taken note of since Esther is practically an avatar for Plath's own psyche.

As for how I felt about this book... I enjoyed it. There were a lot of moments where I inwardly cringed at Esther's behaviour. But I still found her character completely compelling. It was dark, yes. An accurate portrayal of depression, yes. And an interesting look into how mental health and women are treated in the 1950s. I feel like the end kind of went over my head and will need to read this again at one point.

This love triangle really frustrated me. I really wanted the original guy to work out. Maybe it's the romantic in me. But also, they just had shitty circumstances. The actual love interest isn't BAD per se. I feel like they glossed over his trauma way too easily. Also, the rival female feels irredeemable to me. Maybe literally someone needs professional help? Why do they gloss over attempted violence like this and everyone tried to smooth things over with her. Took me out of the immersion immediately.

A very sweet, although seemingly abrupt end to the series. At least, that's what it felt like to me. I really loved the progression of their relationship. Cute book to start off 2024.