Reviews

The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante

unmas4's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

skyewight's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective tense

4.0

ludditegirl's review against another edition

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

4.0

lizslay's review against another edition

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

4.0

laurendonnelly3's review against another edition

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reflective relaxing 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

4.25

rmquinto's review against another edition

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slow-paced

3.25

icedchailatte's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • 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? Yes

4.0

asphyxiac's review against another edition

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3.0

Perhaps this was the author’s intention, but all of the characters were pretty unlikeable in this book. I couldn’t find a coherent narrative in the novel. Meh.

caroleugenepark's review against another edition

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3.0

Adults are liars, indeed.

There were some beautiful moments in terms of growing older, experiencing the hypocrisy of adults in one’s life. Some more relatable than others.

But mostly, I think I didn’t love every second of this novel because I’m missing the cultural context, in addition to what might’ve been lost during the translation process.

jellter's review against another edition

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3.0

I enjoyed seeing a realistic character that constantly charges their mind. The prose was great and the dynamics between the characters even better.

However, towards the last quarter, to me, things just started happening and for what felt like random reasons. Overall it was still enjoyable but considering the book is still sizeable and a good section was lacklustre for me, it did bring my rating down.

Nonetheless I like Ferrante's style and I definitely want to check out the Neapolitan novels in the future.