Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Pearl

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Pearl by Siân Hughes

9 reviews

rei_reads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-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

5.0

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deedireads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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? No

4.25

All my reviews live at https://deedireads.com/.

Pearl was the last title I read from the 2023 Booker Prize longlist, and what a lovely way to cap things off!

This book is a short but impactful look at grief, motherhood (and mothering in the absence of a mother), mental illness, and the lasting effects of all three. Hughes is a poet, and it shows. She took her whole life to write this book — in many different forms, many different times, until she found the heart of it all — and that shows, too. She’s also said the idea for the book started with a writing exercise in which she wrote about a particularly quirky house along her commute, which evolved into the house that made it into the final version of the book. That book, almost a character in itself, was one of my favorite parts. I also quite liked the ending!

That said, it’s not perfect — while everyone at book club agreed that we liked it, we also agreed that the details slipped right out of our brains like water as soon as we finished reading it. I also wasn’t a big fan of the way the book started in the present day and then permanently switched to the past — I expected it to go back and forth between the timelines. I think that choice slowed some of the book’s momentum, but that’s a relatively minor complaint.

If you are looking for a short but beautifully written little Irish novel, this one is for you.

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emlo's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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

4.0

This is a beautifully written book about a girl growing up and trying to come to terms with the absence of her mother. The grief is poigniantly observed as is the way trauma can be passed through generations. It's also a meditation on motherhood and family.

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thesecretbookclub's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

Very sad, but very worthwhile. It almost feels like a stream of consciousness type novel but with still a little bit of structure to it. I also liked the references to medieval poetry.

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thekingbeth's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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notthatcosta's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

An achingly beautiful book that is one of the most visceral and resonant depictions of grief and loss I've seen represented in literature. The magical realist elements are incredibly wistful and beautiful, especially considering the 'real world' aspects are so...real.

I would give this 5* but the quality dipped so much in chapters 11-13 that it almost ruined the book for me. I guess I just find bratty, angsty teenagers insufferable in any and every form and context.

Overall, one of the most impactful novels I've read in recent memory, and to know that the story was very much informed by Sian Hughes' own experiences and childhood makes it even more special.

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