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taytots24's review against another edition
The number of times the phrase “dead baby” was used in the first hour of listening was too big of a turn-off.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, and Miscarriage
sundayfever's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Though not explicitly queer, a very queer story about childhood friendships, love and the cruelty of the world. I enjoyed it but the writing style didn't draw me in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Minor: War
makenareads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
just not my style. well written
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Gore
chena_reads_romance's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This book is really something. I read the entire thing in one day which I haven't done in a really long time.
The writing and prose is really good and mature! It makes the story interesting and adds a kind of tense energy that contributes to the overall vibe of the book. And the plot itself is also really interesting and unsettling. I loved seeing this back and forth between Agnes and Fabienne and better trying to understand who they are to each other.
However, about midway through, the book begins to lose steam when that's the area that it should really be amping up. Just when Agnes and Fabienne are being actively destructive around each other, they are separated from each other for months and that tense energy fizzles out. There should have been more there. More action, more friendship or dialogue between the two characters, something to make me better understand the intense obsession Agnes has with Fabienne. Because that isn't there, I'm left feeling a little underwhelmed. There also isn't a clear reason that I can see as to why Agnes is willing to drift from Fabienne without much fight. I revisited the first few pages again after finishing the book, and there's still more fire and urgency in Agnes' feelings for Fabienne than what is expressed in the ending.
Ultimately the book is solid and it was definitely enjoyable to read with some really amazing lines throughout! But it needed more action on the characters parts. Maybe it could have been a little longer too--the ending felt rushed.
The writing and prose is really good and mature! It makes the story interesting and adds a kind of tense energy that contributes to the overall vibe of the book. And the plot itself is also really interesting and unsettling. I loved seeing this back and forth between Agnes and Fabienne and better trying to understand who they are to each other.
However, about midway through, the book begins to lose steam when that's the area that it should really be amping up. Just when Agnes and Fabienne are being actively destructive around each other, they are separated from each other for months and that tense energy fizzles out. There should have been more there. More action, more friendship or dialogue between the two characters, something to make me better understand the intense obsession Agnes has with Fabienne. Because that isn't there, I'm left feeling a little underwhelmed. There also isn't a clear reason that I can see as to why Agnes is willing to drift from Fabienne without much fight. I revisited the first few pages again after finishing the book, and there's still more fire and urgency in Agnes' feelings for Fabienne than what is expressed in the ending.
Ultimately the book is solid and it was definitely enjoyable to read with some really amazing lines throughout! But it needed more action on the characters parts. Maybe it could have been a little longer too--the ending felt rushed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Death
weenyreads's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
The writing is beautiful and poetic but I had to stop reading from very graphic and constant talk of child and infant death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Infertility, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
lasivaranasi's review
challenging
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Die Charaktere entwickeln sich nur sperrig und mir hat etwas eine Reflexion von Agnes gefehlt, darüber wie sie die Freundschaft später wahrnimmt. Außerdem fand ich persönlich den Schul-Abschnitt zu einseitig/lang.
Dennoch habe ich die Schreibstil geliebt und viele Sätze und Analogien markiert, um sie mir zu behalten. Alles in allem ein gutes Buch. Ich würde es jedoch nicht empfehlen, wenn man es in Buch lesen möchte in dem viel passiert/ sich die Charaktere stark weiterentwickeln.
Dennoch habe ich die Schreibstil geliebt und viele Sätze und Analogien markiert, um sie mir zu behalten. Alles in allem ein gutes Buch. Ich würde es jedoch nicht empfehlen, wenn man es in Buch lesen möchte in dem viel passiert/ sich die Charaktere stark weiterentwickeln.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, and War
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
silverseaslug's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
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
5.0
Although it was short, this is one of the best-written books I've read recently
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts
seventhswan's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This one's for the gifted and mildly traumatised girlies who had a weirdly intense, homoerotic friendship in high school that never went anywhere and fizzled out around the same time that their giftedness did... but in 1950s rural France. Which is a relief, or I might have thought parts of the book were about me. Everything in this story was impeccably constructed and I felt genuinely sad for both Agnes and Fabienne throughout, despite - or perhaps because of - some of their actions being borderline indefensible. I've been loving novels with rural settings lately and this was a huge win on that front too.
I do wish the novel hadn't opened with Fabienne's death. I think it would have been more impactful to not be certain what happened to her until the end of the book. Otherwise, though, I could have read a book twice as long about these characters and their world.
I do wish the novel hadn't opened with
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal death and Child death
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Racism, and War
oopscara's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Agnés is a teen French girl that, together with her friend, has the most crazy experiences. Together, they come up with 'games' to play and end up writing some stories together. The stories themselves are equally as crazy as their experiences and weird interactions/reactions with and to people.
The stories that Agnés writes later on are less morbid and more fantastical. They seem to be very symbolic and I like the creativity that went into those.
I was constantly wondering if there would come a big reveal like how her friend was made up all alone, or a huge character development where Agnés would come to the realisation that she is being used for personal gain by many of her surrounding adults, but alas.
Often times the prose was very good and thought provoking, but for 90% of the time I just wished this book was over with.
Thankfully it was an easy read.
I was constantly wondering if there would come a big reveal like how her friend was made up all alone, or a huge character development where Agnés would come to the realisation that she is being used for personal gain by many of her surrounding adults, but alas.
Often times the prose was very good and thought provoking, but for 90% of the time I just wished this book was over with.
Thankfully it was an easy read.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death and Suicide
deedireads's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
All my reviews live at https://deedireads.com/.
This is a tricky book to review. It definitely wasn’t want I expected, even though the synopsis paints a fully accurate picture of the events of the book. It’s told from a woman named Agnès’ perspective, fully in flashback as she tells us about her (not very healthy) childhood friendship with a dynamic young woman named Fabienne.
Ultimately, this ended up in a “liked a lot” instead of a “loved” category for me. I think it was just a little too much “and then, and then, and then” held away at juuuust a little too much distance. But also, the prose was excellent, and some of the philosophical musings Agnès tugs from her experiences are really striking. There’s a lot to unpack here about girlhood and girlhood friendship, plus class and generational class changes. I will definitely be reading more of Yiyun Li’s work, and I’m excited that she’s on the Booker Prize judging panel this year.
This is a tricky book to review. It definitely wasn’t want I expected, even though the synopsis paints a fully accurate picture of the events of the book. It’s told from a woman named Agnès’ perspective, fully in flashback as she tells us about her (not very healthy) childhood friendship with a dynamic young woman named Fabienne.
Ultimately, this ended up in a “liked a lot” instead of a “loved” category for me. I think it was just a little too much “and then, and then, and then” held away at juuuust a little too much distance. But also, the prose was excellent, and some of the philosophical musings Agnès tugs from her experiences are really striking. There’s a lot to unpack here about girlhood and girlhood friendship, plus class and generational class changes. I will definitely be reading more of Yiyun Li’s work, and I’m excited that she’s on the Booker Prize judging panel this year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Animal death