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starrybat's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexism, Grief, Death, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Suicide, Trafficking, Infidelity, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Rape and Violence
clowcard's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Trafficking and Sexual violence
meremeth's review against another edition
I got to the sex trafficking part and gave up.
I really enjoyed the writing style, but the content of the book feels indulgent and unnecessarily heavy at times
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Suicide, Trafficking, and Rape
kell_xavi's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed many of the literary connections Nunez and the narrator, herself a writer and professor, make. I don’t tend to pick up writing about writing, but the perspective of an older woman, well-read and used to both capturing her feelings and parsing them through writing (hers, other authors’), made sense here as an opening. Grief, love, pets, ownership, devotion, attention, death: these are all subjects that are heavily present in literature and in our lives. This short novel is both a simple one as it repeats, mirrors them, and one that stirs and enriches the reader. The woman and the dog both dedicated to another, the woman and man both in authority, the reflection of the woman on each role and companion also a flicker of light on herself. At the same time, this continues to be a story of a friendship between human and dog, one that epitomizes the Rilke quote about love being two solitudes that greet each other.
At the close of this novel, I wanted it to continue. There were many parts, however, that I didn’t enjoy. There’s a grossness to both men and animals, there’s a sustained apology for it, that I found it difficult to approach. On reflection, there's intention to the exploration of both, and to the comparison: what will we tolerate, even accept, in men and dogs, when it is disturbing or immoral, gross or degrading? When is the flaw not worth the reward? While I was not indifferent to this study insightful, and found it insightful, I also desired more of some parts and less of others in The Friend.
Moderate: Trafficking and Suicide
ahorowitz25's review against another edition
1.0
Gross.
Is it well written in a profoundly literary (read: pretentious and grating) style? Yes. But I just couldn’t get past how nauseous the male prof made me. I shouldn’t have bothered finishing it.
Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Infidelity
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death
kaitidid's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Death, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, and Trafficking
Minor: Ableism, Toxic relationship, and Dementia
morganthecarrot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Graphic: Grief, Suicide, and Trafficking
hannawilloch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Minor: Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Animal cruelty
friendofhayley's review against another edition
Moderate: Trafficking
apeck's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Suicide, and Death
Minor: Rape, Trafficking, and Infidelity