Reviews

Ghost Lover by Lisa Taddeo

maggiemcfly's review

1.0

Sadly, I didn’t enjoy this one, even though I loved Taddeo‘s other books. In all of the stories, the main driver of the plot was the women being in love with some horrible men or having horrible experiences with men. I also didn’t like the constant comparison of the characters with other women. I get that all of this is probably meant to criticise our society and the patriarchy, and I did enjoy these tropes in her book Animal, but with the short stories it just felt very repetitive. I wish there would be more diversity in the settings and story lines.

suzanne07090's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-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

3.5

mikaelamarino's review against another edition

2.0

This was nooooot for me. I thought this would be a great way to get a little taste of her work. Instead I found myself once again reading a book that revolves around the male gaze. It’s just straight up not interesting. I’ve read heterosexual romance novels with less of a focus on men that this. Maybe I missed the point? Regardless I don’t really care.

rhoudeboy's review against another edition

5.0

I am not a ~stories~ person whatsoever. I always find that they feel emptier and just don’t grip me the way novels do… but this collection had me from the jump!

Lisa Taddeo shows that she’s a brilliant writer once again and manages to craft short stories in a way that leaves me wanting more, but satisfies me nonetheless?

Adding Lisa Taddeo to my list of “immediately yes” authors.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Avid Reader Press for Thai ARC!

i_escape_2other_worlds's review against another edition

I couldn’t bear to read past the FMC getting ready to lie about being sexually assaulted by an old bf because he’d moved on. Too despicable for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

ursacorn's review against another edition

DNF: The writing was fine. I'm just not in the mood to read about more upper class, thin, and beautiful white women complain about their lives....

betty_dav's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.0

Rating this against the likes of animal and three women probably does this a disservice, plus the fact that these short stories were originally published individually and have now been put together in one book — this makes them feel quite repetitive after a while. That said, I cannot fault taddeo’s writing style and I’ll read anything she writes!

cc_carey's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

you could put a gun to my head while im reading this book and i stg i wouldn’t even notice 

thecirclek's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I really enjoyed Taddeo's Animal. This collection of short stories was more of a mixed bag. I really enjoy her writing, but a lot of the same scenarios and character types and tropes come up over and over, which gives a bit too much repetition when you read them back to back. (Prepare for a lot of distressed middle-aged women masturbating to alleviate their frustration!). I think that the stories on their own are pretty good, but suffer a bit being read so closely to one another.

cathodg's review against another edition

3.0

I don’t often choose a collection of short stories but having enjoyed Three Women so much I was excited to give this a go. I enjoyed many of the stories but definitely felt a sadness that some of them didn’t have more. It’s my problem with short stories, I often want the good ones to be full novels.

A beautiful collection to dip in and out of , or read in one sitting if that’s your style.

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