Reviews

Of the books I’ve read this year I think this one is my favourite. It’s as if Albert Camus wrote a spy novel and a love story and a meditation on all the things I drive myself mad thinking about. I don’t normally notice lovely sentences but I could’ve underlined this entire book. It deals with the idea that you can never really know a person, even to a certain extent yourself. It’s also about the mark you leave, or rather don’t. How things happen and how it they don’t in the grand scheme of things matter, that most people aren’t even the protagonist of their own lives but just a fleeting reference in someone else’s story. It’s a tremendous book. I wish it was a thousand pages long and could keep me company for another day or two. I like having a wee ponder about things and you don’t always have someone to talk to but with Berta Isla it was as if I was sitting with a very wise person who had answers to questions I didn’t know how to ask. It’s everything I want in a book, and probably everything I admire in a friend too. 5 out of 5. P.S I imagine you might need to be in a certain sort of form to really love this book, but also maybe not. I’m not sure, it’s not hard to read, it’s not slow, it didn’t take too long to take a hold of me, the sentences are longish but it works, you don’t have to read between any lines, there is quite the twist, it’s tense and smart and sad and thoughtful, it reminded me a little of the Count of Monte Cristo in that it left me with a similar feeling and it helped me figure something out without even being about that thing. Sometimes a book can come along in much the way a friend can and make you feel like you aren’t so strange or out of place. An excellent book.

carolinarpina's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is about life and everything that surrounds it. About love and waiting, respecting your partner and respecting yourself.
In this book, we sometimes know more than Berta Isla, but the author gives us the opportunity to live in her shoes and wait for more information. It's a book that will stay with me forever, with real characters that definitely make you think.

mjminkowich's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

dvalk's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective medium-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

5.0

sejl90's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

3.5

jenniferwallini's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

While this book is over 500 pages long, I was surprised at how the pages seemed to fly. The beginning was the hardest to get into, but once the catalyst happens that puts the rest of the book in motion, it really started to move. I appreciated the twist at the end and all the callbacks, although at times it felt like entire sentences or passages were being repeated word for word, which did grate on me a bit. Overall, I'm glad I read it and would read more by this author.

More...