Olivia

a flushing, intense, fervid vignette of adolescent desire and love-wrought self discovery. im beset with longing towards an all-encompassing adoration without comparison and with seeming purity, or at the very least, exhilaration at its potential lack thereof. is love corrupting or emboldening ? should it make us strong or servile ? in youth even if we have the mind to ask these questions, we’re too preoccupied by the agonizing pulse, the pump and flow of these intoxicating feelings to make real sense of it. its maddening and dizzying but brings the type of jubilation that can only come from pain’s ecstasy. but even in our aged characters, likely littered with the slight wounds of past love, we see them submit to and resist, compress and repress passions whippings

KMS !

This is now one of my favorite books. I could re-read it, much in the same way I could re-read The Picture of Dorian Gray. It was wonderfully descriptive, and oddly motivational in the way it described Olivia's studies and love of learning. Her self-discovery was also relatable, and I was touched by her growth as a character.