Reviews with content warning for Death - Small Pleasures

I'm worried I'm too emotionally invested at the moment to be writing this review; I don't know how to write about how this book made me feel without writing about the ending. I'll spoiler warning it at the end here, but just know that all spoilers in it are very vague.

Overall I liked this book. I knew absolutely nothing about it going in--not the premise, not the genre, nothing. I picked it solely based on the cover. Throughout the first half of it I just felt a sort of rising tension, as I waited for the shoe to drop. This book was well-written and while the ending devastated me, I don't think it should have been changed.

This book makes me want to read more by this author, because I really liked how well it showed tiny social things that feel hard to capture/explain but can make a real impact on how a situation feels or a relationship progresses. Small things that Jean worries over momentarily, that just felt really well-done.

Honestly the ending just is so sad. I wasn't prepared. I wish I'd paid more attention to the dates so that I could have seen it coming. It makes sense as a story but I'm just too close to these characters right now, I feel too sad for them. It made it so I couldn't give this book five stars.

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pr1y4's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5

it took me 20 days to read 180 pages and then i read the rest in a day.
anyways, i have mixed feelings?? everyone really hates the ending but like, idk it was kind of expected?? like obviously it was not going to be a miracle random birth - it was a little bit out of nowhere for sure, but yea idk expected.
either ways, i dont have much to say about this book except it took me entirely too long to read but also im proud of myself for reading it and im glad i have not forgotten how to read

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sweetsxrrxw's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

i have been reading five chapters of this every week, for class. during the process of reading it, i've heard a couple of my classmates saying they were enjoying the book but, honestly? i couldn't relate back then and i still can't. tbh i don't know what am i gonna do in my exam cause i can't remember anything besides the plot's important details, lmao.

i think the only characters i was invested with were gretchen and margaret and once their story became a subplot, my interest in the story. now that i have finished the book, looking back at it, i can empathize with jean and howard, however while reading, i just didn't feel any kind of affection towards any of them.

like, actually, i wasn't mad or sad at the end? of course jean and howard deserve a happy life, i guess, but it is what it is

maybe i'm just not used to reading books in english (i usually read them in spanish) but the writing felt dense at some parts and i just could not focus on what was going on. however, one thing i liked is how the author occasionally inserted jean's articles for the newspaper. although i think it was a cool detail, i think clare chambers could have done so much better.

i get that the book is set in the late fifties but the misogyny, lesbophobia and ableism were awful to read. like ok, gretchen and martha were going to be judged anyways so why not let them at least by happy by themselves? and what was the need to make victor neurodivergent? that's just an awful thing to write...

idk, all in all, i just can't see the point of the book. and i get that some stories are just pointless but this book just was not my cup of tea.

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