Reviews

Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud

gudrundorothea's review against another edition

adventurous informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

sbeerens's review against another edition

2.0

I borrowed this book from my English teacher at highschool and when I was finished all he asked me was: "What did you think of it? It wasn't that great, was it?" And I had to agree. Whereas the story itself could have been interesting (hippie road-story, shall we say), the way it was written spoilt it a little bit for me. The author took a big risk by writing it from a child's perspective and in my opinion, the book isn't nearly as good as it could have been because of this.

anneebel's review against another edition

4.0

I finished this book in a day… It really was so much better than I thought it was going to be going into it. I think I had an impression from the movie that it was going to be a bit odd, and hard to read. But with it all coming from the perspective of a 3/4 year old, there’s no complicated talk, or descriptions, and it’s a really easy read.
Nice to read after some long, more modern books that I’ve read recently!!

pilchardsmimi's review against another edition

adventurous informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

efnelson12's review against another edition

hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

leilatre's review against another edition

3.0

This is one of the first books I've read from the 1001 Books list that I couldn't really figure out why it made the list. It is a very readable journal of a 5 year-old girl who is dragged around Morocco in the 1960's. There's just not much more to it than that. The descriptions are not particularly vivid and the point-of-view is not novel. Just fine, that's all.

gr_ace_'s review against another edition

3.0

Would give this 2.5 if I could. The mum annoyed me so much that it ruined it a bit for me, and the only 2 adults I really liked were left with sad sort of endings. Couldn't figure out if I liked the nappy thieves or if I wanted to swear at them either. Other than that it's a nice story that's given me a serious case of the travel bug.

shahrun's review against another edition

3.0

This is the story of a mother and her two young daughters living in Morocco, told by her youngest daughter who (we find out near enough at the end of the book) is only 5! Even thought the story had an innocence and naivety, I don't think having a 5 year old narrator was the right thing here. For starters it gave her far too sophisticated voice to tell the story with and make it believable (being that she was as young as she was). It also made it hard to get a fix on exactly what was happening, where and why. So although I didn't hate the story, I was confused and it didn't sit right with me because there were too many unknown quantities (like the time period, ages of the children) for me to be able to relax into it. As to the why, it becomes apparent from the middle of the books that mummy is on a spiritual quest.

Also... I'm sure I've not ever read this before and I've not see the film. But I was always lead to believe this was autobiographical. The book itself is clearly labeled as Fiction...

kingfan30's review against another edition

4.0

An unusual story. I like the freedom of the book and the things n the market that the girls saw and the people they met (maybe I'm a hippy at heart!) and at times they seemed very happy. On the other hand there were times when I felt sorry for them when they were not happy and yearned for a normal like with normal food. It is funny how during life you pick up on words or phrases that stick with you and your family for the rest of your life, and this is where the title of the book comes from.

terppsi's review against another edition

3.0

from the title, I confess I thought it would be smutt.
but no, far from it.
and nothing about julian freud either.
a nice quick read, though sometimes the mother gave me the creeps.