Reviews tagging 'Violence'

De geniale vriendin by Elena Ferrante

122 reviews

chlschn's review against another edition

reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Violence

teddybo's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I think this is a very well written novel that can be engaging. If you’re someone that doesn’t like very character-driven novels, you probably won’t like this but if you appreciate the minutia of daily life and how characters change over time, you will probably like this one.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Violence

p0rkchop's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Violence

bladedented's review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, and Violence

marcepax's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I can understand the hype and I don't think it's undeserved. I enjoyed this book to some extent, but I felt asphyxiated for the most part. The obsession of Elena for her firend is so strong it felt claustrophobic, especially since the first person point of view locks us up in her head. The story doesn't pull any punches regarding the violence in Naples, the domestic violence, the violence of poverty. It's a harsh story, filled, also, with all the seemingly univeral insecurities of a girl growing up. The skillful writing made all of this hit very hard.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Mental illness

helenkadetroika's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault

bibamaya's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Violence, and Toxic friendship

adrilynn21's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Violence and Dysphoria

friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It felt very realistic and maybe therefor a bit underwhelming with all the hype around it. Read it if you want atmospherical poor napolitan neighborhood vibes, girlhood and the life of people that usually get glossed over. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

kirklandprosecco's review against another edition

I really gave this one a go! I've been meaning to read this for years, and once I saw it on The NYT best list as #1, I thought that was a great excuse to finally read it. I found the writing style distracting, there were so many commas, all the paragraphs were run-on sentences, it was sometimes hard to clarify what the writer meant. I loved the themes of friends/frenemies, education vs. vocation, women's violence vs. men's violence -- but in the end, I just was not enjoying the story. I am happy for those who loved this - just wasn't for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence