Book Review: The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth Laban
Following Tim Macbeth, an albino who just wants to fit in, and Duncan who is trying hard to forget everything about Tim and what happened the year before, The Tragedy Paper review will tell you everything you need to know about why this book is good or reasons why you might not like it at all.
Book Information
Duncan is trying desperately to forget everything that happened last year and to enjoy his senior year. But when he finds audio recordings of Tim Macbeth’s time at the Irving School, Duncan can’t help but to listen. Why? Because Tim Macbeth is the exact tragedy Duncan has been trying so hard to forget. As Duncan listens to Tim’s story, he sees more and more how Tim was just a boy who was different who wanted desperately to fit in.
Told in alternating points of view and timelines with Duncan and Tim, The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth Laban is perfect for fans of first-time romances, boarding schools, and what it means to be different.
Review | Heidi Dischler
First and foremost, I want to go over everything I liked about this book. I seriously liked Tim as a character. I could feel and understand everything he felt so well. His emotions were palpable and perfect for those of an outcast teenage boy. I thought his chapters were wonderfully put together.
The bad, you ask? Well, the whole novel was very slow in my opinion. It just kind of went along with whatever and didn’t ever feel driven by particular events or timelines. Also, I get that this was probably the point, but Duncan was way too similar to Tim if you ask me. At times I had to remind myself whose story I was a part of at that current chapter. I also really don’t like dual timelines and the whole book was told during two different time periods.
I don’t want to go into spoilers today because there really isn’t much to spoil in this book. You can sense the tragedy coming from a mile away sadly. I like the ending even though I know a lot of people hate endings like this one.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad book. It just wasn’t particularly good either. I liked Tim’s story, but Duncan’s felt pointless. It could’ve been told from Tim’s point of view the entire time and I would have been perfectly fine with it. I did seriously love the boarding school vibes, though, and that’s something I guess.
Source: Personal Copy
