Reviews

The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride

sashahawkins's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

2.5

franceswilde95's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

4.5

naoki's review against another edition

5.0

This book… slow burn then bang! Emotions everywhere.

An 18-year-old Irish girl moves to London to study acting. She meets a semi-famous actor who’s kind of shady and obviously damaged. Once he opens up, we learn about his awful childhood and how it shaped his life.

Full disclosure: I chose this book because it had the word “bohemians” in it – I’m a sucker for characters living on the fringe. But it was less about a “scene” than it was an ode to Camden in the 90s. London was a character and I LOVE when cities are a character.

Lesser Bohemians was super hard to get into because of McBride's lyrical writing style. I almost gave up but I persevered and I’m glad I did.

I found myself enthralled and I got quite emotional. Their love is intense and life-changing. It kind of reminded me of Normal People which also shook me.

I loved how as soon as "sexy actor" opens up about his past, you realise the book is really about him. It’s redemptive but not in a cringe-worthy way.

This book has clung to me and I can’t quite shake it off. I recommend.

toomanybarts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

I quite liked how the weird punctuation had you read the book : felt like you couldn’t dwell too long on each word or punctuation (or lack of), just had to keep moving fwd. A lot of shagging. Too much for my liking if I’m honest - guess I didn’t know what I was getting when I chose this book!

davethescot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

thursday_nxt's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

lulubijou's review against another edition

4.0

4.5 stars

vintersolverv's review against another edition

2.0

My journey reading this book:

ew no

ok wtf def no

oh shit

hmmm ok with the right ending, this might be good

ok nvm ew

(Had the book ended earlier, it would have been good. Instead, SPOILER two people with a big age gap who are absolutely toxic for each other ride into the sunset together. Romanticizing this kind of relationship is dangerous.)

2/4 mainly because I appreciate the prose itself

deesoupdragon's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.5

constancelee's review against another edition

They say the 3rd time is a charm. I've actually won this book twice through 2 different contests and both times never received the book. Hoping Goodreads will come through for me this time!