Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Priča o novom prezimenu by Elena Ferrante

27 reviews

baddgerose's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

So much drama but slow and realistic, churning life in a small town with claws that hold you in maybe the only way out is to run away or work yourself into university but then what? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

glorifiedloveletters's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-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

I wish I'd started on Ferrante when these books came out! I was even on the list for review copies!! AND YET.

Better late than never!

Anyway, this book was even better than MY BRILLIANT FRIEND, which I also loved.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Miscarriage and Suicide

aleilvandrea's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide, Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

carojust's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Oh, I'm emotionally invested. Definitely read these in order. This book builds on Elena and Lina's lives after Lina's wedding, and we follow them into young adulthood with the same gravity and detail as the first book.

The first half was a drag for me, and suddenly I raced through the second half in a day, after the turning point during their beach vacation. Nino Sarratore, count your days.

Lina, who bothered me only a little in the first book, absolutely drove me up the wall in this one. I have a friend who made the same decisions in real life as this character does, and am stunned at the exact psychological pattern both follow. Elena Ferrante has a power in reflecting precise emotions and turmoil that are so frighteningly real.

I'm left so satisfied with how Elena's life is evolving, and while there are no winners in this story, I'll continue rooting for her, the idea of her that I hold inside myself. 

I think it's the obsessive inadequacy, the verbose and constant reflection, the natural tendency to empathize, that makes this series feel like womanhood, itself. I better understand why this series has captured so many of us. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and War

marilululu's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism and Body shaming

lexcellent's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

avrorae's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Infidelity, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

juliarose807's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

sineadlgull's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.5

Great book with strong character/relationship development. Characters and majorly flawed yet interesting and strangely loveable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Murder

jenni28's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

I adored this book. 

I received the first of the Neapolitan Quarter as a Christmas gift and devoured it, but the second instalment I loved even more. I read this in almost one sitting! 

This book made me feel a lot of things… 

I went through a bit of a rollercoaster with almost every single character, on one page feeling compassion and empathy for their struggles, by the next feeling utterly enraged by their pettiness and self-centred attitudes.

With Lina, for example, you can’t help but feeling a heartfelt sense of pity given how quickly her young marriage descends into a prison of abuse and unhappiness. At the same time, there were parts of this book where her treatment of Elena really disgusted me, and I wanted to scream at Elena to stop letting her friend walk all over her. But in this novel, as in life, nothing is simple - and that really comes through in the realism of Ferrantes writing.

Every character is so well-written, so believable and so enraging at times that you can’t help but be absorbed by their lives, by a story where not very much happens in terms of plot, but where I was totally glued to the page.  

This book often gets sold as a book about female friendship, and I suppose that is true at the most basic level. But the parts that I found most compelling dealt with 1960s Italy, especially through the prism of class. Without being didactic, I think it was a beautiful exploration of how culture, family, friendships, social relations, communities and art are all affected by our class and our upbringing. 

Despite her great success by going to University and writing a novel, Elena is almost constantly frozen by what I can only describe as “imposter” syndrome. She had a constant feeling of self doubt, never feeling good enough, that always seems to harken back to her competitive relationship with Lina or her embarrassment and shame about her own background. Lina, on the other hand, despite gaining wealth and success, feels trapped in a loveless and abusive marriage due to her social conditions. She is eventually able to break free, but not without huge consequences that affect her life and that of her whole family and community.

I was totally immersed in this book. Can’t wait to read the third instalment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Classism