Reviews

While I do appreciate the lovely friendship between the main characters, I found it difficult to track the details of their connection to other people and things. The ending was abrupt, which I enjoyed, however I do wish we got more resolve in the narrative rather than from the real life person.

meganhowes's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

carsondifede's review

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

4.0

alexandr1ne's review

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5.0

This book is the first I have ever felt compelled to annotate. (My feelings towards annotation, and how best to love and care for a book, have changed generally in recent years, but I think there is still significance to the fact that this is the first time I’ve wanted - needed! - to action these new beliefs.) It’s also the first I’ve felt warranted a review; I need these thoughts and feelings documented somewhere, however briefly, and despite the fact that they are destined to disappear into the Goodreads void.

Sylvie and Andrée’s friendship spoke to me on a level I’m sure many young women and woman-aligned people of confused sexuality and ardent feminism can relate to. Beauvoir captures so perfectly the way even platonic love between women is leagues deeper than the love men have for their wives, the mothers of their children.

At the same time, though this work explores primarily Beauvoir’s childhood, adolescence, and (minimally) her young adulthood through the lens of Sylvie’s friendship with Andrée, her later existentialism is already profoundly evident. I will be thinking about this read for a long time.

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