Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - The Lying Life of Adults

You know how it's said that adults don't remember what it was like to be a teenager? Well, Elena Ferrante does.

While some of Giovanna's experiences won't resonate with everyone, I remembered so much of my own teenage years as I was reading — so much of that emotion rang true to me. I was really taken in by Ferrante's insightful exploration of Giovanna's character, and the writing style is wonderfully readable, while preserving its poetry and a certain, simmering rage underneath that really resonated with me.

Content Warnings

painausten314's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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gretag's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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galexy_brain's review against another edition

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Although the writing was beautiful, the plot started to stagnate in the middle. I was never particularly interested in the subject matter to begin with and found the characters difficult and/or unlikeable, so when the plot ground to a halt I had to cut it off.

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erikawynn's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense 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

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moonlightamelia's review against another edition

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funny 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

what a interesting little book…

an excruciating but brilliant depiction of a girls teenage years, elena ferrante expertly explores all the drama that occurs during adolescence. i found it painfully accurate, particularly in its exploration of divorce, teenage infatuation and how a girls view of herself develops as she grows, and ms ferrante’s writing is exquisite: “how rough men were, how brutal in every word they dedicated to love.”

my only issue would be the pacing; the first 60 pages were so slow, along with part 4, but the rest of it was excellent.

in short, everybody lied. everybody said it was mid but they were wrong. this book is worth the read purely for the writing alone, but you will get so much more out of it than that.

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abbystevenson's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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adaaa's review against another edition

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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

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