leticia26's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
teabetweenthepages's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
emsfrancesb's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
marti190593's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
izza_bluebell38a's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
cscutt's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
3.25
A meditative and weighty book about relationships, friendships, family and growing up. It had its moments and the characters were all brilliantly rendered, but structurally and tonally I found it a bit all over the place.
I get that life is chaotic, and that this is a book about life, but at times I found it difficult to keep a grasp on timelines and who knew what or who was related to who. This probably wasn't helped by my edition having a bunch of typos and grammatical confusions in it.
I don't know if my difficulties came from the writing, the translation or the editing, but it all ended up as a really uneven experience. Flashes of profound brilliance and emotion, but each separated by about 100 pages of stuff that felt kind of aimless and scattered. I could have loved it if it were just a little sharper.
I get that life is chaotic, and that this is a book about life, but at times I found it difficult to keep a grasp on timelines and who knew what or who was related to who. This probably wasn't helped by my edition having a bunch of typos and grammatical confusions in it.
I don't know if my difficulties came from the writing, the translation or the editing, but it all ended up as a really uneven experience. Flashes of profound brilliance and emotion, but each separated by about 100 pages of stuff that felt kind of aimless and scattered. I could have loved it if it were just a little sharper.
clairestream's review
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-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
4.5
marianne253's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0