Welcome to Litsy!

A retelling of the original 1984 told from Julia‘s POV. I wish I would have reread the original before getting into this one just to see the character‘s lives intertwining as the story goes along. Definitely was similar to 1984 in its mind twisting and often conflicting stories with the characters. Although I‘m happy to have read it, it certainly wasn‘t a favorite as the story ran in circles and I find it to not need to be almost 400 pages long.

Having a bit of an Orwell moment, I read Wifedom, in prep for reading 1984, in prep for reading this. I really liked how the character of Julia is reimagined - she is a fully flushed out person in this story. Not always a person you like, but realistically drawn. I appreciate that Newman keeps the dark tone of 1984, though the ending is a bit more optimistic which might be just the time we live in. I found her life in the dorms 👇

I‘ve been listening to this on Audible, I‘m completely invested in it. Julia was a great character already of course, but she‘s become so spellbinding in this. Just as Margaret Atwood has showed: us the life of women in totalitarian regimes is precarious at best. The imagination and detail is exemplary, highly recommended.

I loved seeing the events of 1984 through Julia‘s POV. It was so much more developed and nuanced in my opinion. Julia was definitely more fleshed out.

This was a 4-star read for me until near the end. I felt it should have stopped at the end of chapter 21 as the last 50 pages dragged for me and felt unnecessary.

#52bookclub24 #theotherbookwiththesimilarplot

What a great book! Dystopia all the way...
(This photo is completely inappropriate)

Never mind espionage; even to get a job as a dock worker was beyond his powers. He was an office clerk who cowered from rats. He couldn't even buy his own black-market goods! Murder, blackmail, suicide - he hadn't the foggiest conception what these words really meant. It made her conscious, as she'd never been before, that thoughtcrime was nothing to do with crime.

... all his talk of abolishing the Party was the purest vanity. 'If there is any hope, it must lie in the proles'- all that meant was that Winston wanted the proles to do his fighting for him. People like the Meltons were expected to risk their skins, so that Winston Smith might be free to say that the Party hadn't invented the aeroplane.

#Endpapers #BBisWatchingYou

#LitsyTOB24 First completed book for #BooksinBloom

I liked this a lot and am glad I re-read 1984 as preparation. The book gives Julia a backstory and interesting insight and contrasts to Winston Smith without detracting from its source material. Occasionally a little longer than it needed to be.

Then there was the stench from the camps, which waxed and waned in changing winds, and made any pleasant thing seem false. At first Julia believed it came from unwashed criminals, thinking it only natural their smells were worse than other people's. Then one day Mrs Marcy wrinkled her nose and said, "They could bury them a little bit deeper,' and the scales fell from her eyes.

This was fascinating to read just after 1984. I really like how it fleshed out that book. It stayed close to the story, but in a way that had movement and breathed, instead of being stiff, like I find many retellings. It adds an extension at the end and I felt it meandered a bit there, but then it really stuck the landing at the end. Great pairing! #LitsyTOB24

An unplanned for flight gave me the time to read my final #litsytob24 title. I reread 1984 in preparation for this and I am glad I did as I had forgotten so much about the book including how Julia was initially portrayed. I think that helped me appreciate this book and reading more fleshed out version of Julia. Still a dreary world to visit but I liked this addition to it.

#UnpopularOpinion

Julia is not a feminist retelling of Orwell‘s book in my opinion. Not at all. A YA retelling maybe, at the most.
Julia felt very one dimensional to me, not like a real person nor a feminist one. The plot was flat too, I really can‘t understand the praise for this book. One of my least favorites of the #Litsy2024 shortlist.

I‘m in the minority on this one, but I was still surprised to see the 100% pick on Litsy. I felt there was nothing to really sink my teeth into. (Omg - I can‘t believe I just used that phrase. I apparently can‘t get my brain beyond Room 101.) Retelling a classic is a daunting task and this just didn‘t work for me.
#LitsyToB24

I was dreading this book, but I‘m happy to report that it worked well for me! Brutal, bleak, and so very rooted in the classic 1984, I found myself riveted by the action, Julia‘s story, and wondering how it would end. A #LitsyToB24 winner, and one I never would have picked up otherwise. That‘s why I love these lists, my reading horizons are always broadening!

I‘ll start by saying I wish I would have reread 1984 before starting the tagged as too many years have passed. I was all in for the first half or so and then my interest tapered off a bit. However, I think Newman did an excellent job of weaving in the confusion and turmoil of Julia trying to live her life and carve as much freedom as possible when everything goes sideways. And the last scene of the last chapter 🤯 #LitsyTOB #NoPeopleonCover

This is sort of brilliant. The author retells 1984 from Julia's perspective. And it is so in the Orwell style that he might have written it. Except I doubt actual Orwell ever thought about the female perspective. It makes Winston look like a fool, which he is. And she writes Julia as I would have, as a sort of antagonist. I mostly did the #audiobook. On Spotify. It helps to move it along.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

There‘s no getting around it; the world portrayed in 1984 and in this novel that follows Winston‘s girlfriend, Julia, is bleak. It is hard for me to read about torture, and it happens. But I am here for this feminist interpretation of a classic. Julia is complicated and conflicted and I would argue a more compelling character than Winston in the original. Definitely a pick even if it was hard to read at times. I enjoyed the audio. #LitsyToB24

Orwell books and re- tellings are definitely a thing at the moment.
I liked this one - but didn‘t love it. I preferred this one The Sisterhood , Katherine Bradley, but it may just be because I read that first. I guess it depends on how you imagine Julia in the first place too.
Both books did great back stories for her.

1984 is a certified classic so I can understand people‘s disinclination to give Julia a chance. But if we appraise it for its own virtues, not as a book that is trying to usurp 1984, but as a story that stands on its own, using Orwell‘s work as a way to readjust its balance on occasion, one would find a superb novel. And here‘s the kicker—if Julia didn‘t have to stand in Orwell‘s shadow it would, in my opinion, be the superior of the two.

Basically went to the office today because my library hold was going to expire. And I need this for irl book club.

#tob24

I'm a big fan of this feminist retelling of Orwell's classic. I felt it was really well done and timely. Learning about Julia's young life was fascinating to me. Newman has done something special here; she's breathed new life into a timeless novel while also paying reverence to the genius of the original.

I only wish I had reread 1984 before this one because it's been years since my last read.

🍁𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓜𝓪𝓲𝓵 🍂

I was gifted a copy of 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐚 by 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐦𝐚𝐧, courtesy of Bibliolifestyle & Mariner Books. It's a feminist, imaginative, relevant, & timely retelling of the classic 1984 by George Orwell. The story is told from the point of view of Winston Smith's lover, Julia. It was published on 𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝟸𝟺, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟹, & is available now! This one looks really fascinating, doesn't it?

I mean I HAD to buy the book- my name is on it? It‘s also supposed to be a modern feministic retelling of 1984, so I was extremely intrigued!

I read 1984 again before reading this feminist re-telling, as I hadn‘t read it since I was a young teen, and probably too young to appreciate it. I‘m really glad it was fresh in my mind as there were many subtle links between the two, outside of the main themes.

In both books I preferred the first half before they get to the Ministry of Love but I felt this was a worthwhile companion to 1984 and added more depth and interest.

#julia #netgalley

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