Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Promising Young Women

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Promising Young Women by Caroline O'Donoghue

12 reviews

cecereads__'s review against another edition

4.5

I read the first chapter, then decided I was more in the mood for a mystery so I read Kala (loved it). Then I came back to this one, and I’m really surprised how I just kept turning the pages. (We all know that sometimes a book can drag and you just need to reach that next chapter to take a break) - well, I didn’t expect that this would be the very opposite. The writing was excellent; I raced through it. Even though I’ve read similar books in terms of the premise (office setting, three female friends-ish, younger woman/older man, a twenties London girlie, you get it), I was still so gripped by this one. And yes, I’m sorry for sounding so surprised but I had such high expectations for the Rachel incident (unfairly so) and went in with none for this one. I just know that Scenes of a graphic nature is fully calling my name now (from the shelves bc ofc I got these two after reading the Rachel incident bc I still really enjoyed it! - Just thought it’d be a five star and a bit different than it was).
Anyway, really loved the writing and the story was told so well imo, I couldn’t look away

Content Warnings

danajoy's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective sad tense

4.0

Dark. At times, surreal. Infused with toxic environments and mindsets. Promising Young Women follows the time-old tale of a young woman becoming entangled with an older, married, man at work. The way it undoes her and the way she puts herself back together.

Jane makes horrible, infuriating decisions. She seems a little too passive in her own life (at times I feel like I do this too, perhaps we all do) and it gets too far out of her control. She wants things that don't serve her.

Reading this felt like a horror novel. I saw the bodily changes and deterioration, the appetite loss and vague mentions of things neither Jane or we as the reader knew about as horrifying.

The Agony Aunt aspect was quite interesting and I did like the way it made Jane reflect.

The book ends without tying up all its loose ends. Consent and assault aren't completely considered by Jane throughout but one has to hope with time and more clarity she'd be able to recognise what was happening.

I do recommend it. This falls into that category of troubled twenty-something women behaving self-destructively which I do tend to resonate with.

Content Warnings

hjb_128's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

larasfavbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

So so gripping! Not what I expected but then I’m not sure what I expected

Content Warnings

literaryinliverpool's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional inspiring 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

4.5

Content Warnings

starbeans's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

cw: abusive relationships, alcoholism, suicide

(Synopsis maybe to come)

It’s a brilliant debut for sure.
The writing is captivating, the plot moves at a very good pace — and it walks the line between telling you everything you need to know while still keeping you guessing. During the course of the book, the protagonist’s mental health steadily declines, which is beautifully reflected in the writing style becoming a tad more erratic.

It highlights basically everything that’s wrong with today’s world in regards to sexism — not a single woman in this book was happy. If you happen to have read «How To Fall Out Of Love Madly», there was the same amount of happy women here: one. The one that’s living by herself without much human contact. Still, it’s a very, very recommendable book.

Content Warnings