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avilareads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Suicide, Excrement, and Murder
rebeccaquinton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Suicide, and Murder
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder
sop17hie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Infertility, Suicide, Police brutality, and Murder
Minor: Forced institutionalization
liesthemoontells's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
While the book's themes are complex, heavy, and at times very dark, Harpman's treatment of the subject matter is more meditative and philosophical than shock provoking. There are many ruminations on what it means to be human, on navigating love, gender, and human connection when you have been given no reference point.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who needs resolutions to their mystery fiction but if you are looking for a powerful and ambivalent piece of speculative literature I could not recommend it more.
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Minor: Violence and War
now_booking's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
In this coming of age tale, the heroine who spends much of her life isolated recounts her story as she remembers it perhaps pursuing the natural human instinct to be acknowledged to have existed at some time in history. Because of the unique way the heroine was raised (or raised herself), she’s not given to much emotion, so this feels like a very detached recounting of what is simultaneously and extraordinary and mundane existence. It’s not at all an exciting book but it is one that keeps you going even if just in the hopes that you’ll learn along with the protagonist where she and the 39 other women were kidnapped and taken to and for what reason.
I overall thought this was really unique and different and I’m glad I read it but I’m not passionate about it. I thought there was very little “so what” about having never known men. Towards the end, the author tried to make some inferences that are beautifully written but they never quite landed in elaborating on “the point”. This felt somewhat experimental for experiments sake and I wish the author had gone a little further with this. I recommend reading this if you’re looking for something quiet and uneventful, thought-provoking, and slightly disturbing (and sad).
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Toxic relationship
embattista13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Cancer and Murder
clovetra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infertility, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
Moderate: Terminal illness, Excrement, Medical content, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
allisoncdn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I liked the questions about what makes us humans, but the plot was almost non existent.
I got bored a couple of times because not much happens and the side characters are really flat. The writing is beautiful though!
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Suicide and Murder
Minor: Torture and Grief
mikathereviewer's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
I gave it 2 instead of 1 star as we get 1 plot related thing actually answered (even though I didn't think about it that much and was rather useless, but we get at least 1 answer so that's fair I guess). I also gave it 2 instead of 1 star as the beginning wasn't actually that bad. The whole though provoking questions and the backstories of that happened before the story started was interesting. And the consequences and rules were interesting too and they also somewhat got explained or we could at least make up our own theories about it, which in this case (since it wasn't a major thing) was actually cool.
15. July 2024
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cancer, Self harm, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Suicide, Dementia, and Abandonment