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lala2love's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicide, Trafficking, and Suicide attempt
maddyreads89's review against another edition
- 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
-there’s not a traditional plot, yet I couldn’t put this book down
-the end had me very emotional, idk something about moving past a feeling, even a bad one, feels like some kind of bittersweet culmination or release
-kinda want to immediately reread to piece together all the literary references and commentary about writing
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Trafficking
starrybat's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Rape and Violence
clowcard's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual violence and Trafficking
meremeth's review against another edition
I got to the sex trafficking part and gave up.
I really enjoyed the writing style, but the content of the book feels indulgent and unnecessarily heavy at times
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Rape, Suicide, and Trafficking
kell_xavi's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed many of the literary connections Nunez and the narrator, herself a writer and professor, make. I don’t tend to pick up writing about writing, but the perspective of an older woman, well-read and used to both capturing her feelings and parsing them through writing (hers, other authors’), made sense here as an opening. Grief, love, pets, ownership, devotion, attention, death: these are all subjects that are heavily present in literature and in our lives. This short novel is both a simple one as it repeats, mirrors them, and one that stirs and enriches the reader. The woman and the dog both dedicated to another, the woman and man both in authority, the reflection of the woman on each role and companion also a flicker of light on herself. At the same time, this continues to be a story of a friendship between human and dog, one that epitomizes the Rilke quote about love being two solitudes that greet each other.
At the close of this novel, I wanted it to continue. There were many parts, however, that I didn’t enjoy. There’s a grossness to both men and animals, there’s a sustained apology for it, that I found it difficult to approach. On reflection, there's intention to the exploration of both, and to the comparison: what will we tolerate, even accept, in men and dogs, when it is disturbing or immoral, gross or degrading? When is the flaw not worth the reward? While I was not indifferent to this study insightful, and found it insightful, I also desired more of some parts and less of others in The Friend.
Moderate: Suicide and Trafficking
ahorowitz25's review against another edition
1.0
Gross.
Is it well written in a profoundly literary (read: pretentious and grating) style? Yes. But I just couldn’t get past how nauseous the male prof made me. I shouldn’t have bothered finishing it.
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death
kaitidid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Ableism, Toxic relationship, and Dementia
morganthecarrot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Graphic: Suicide, Trafficking, and Grief
hannawilloch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Minor: Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, and Trafficking