Reviews

Bottled Goods by Sophie Van Llewyn

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atn's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

mwmakar's review

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Love the pacing and artistic delivery of information. Favorite part - the intrigue and trapped feeling, immersive in the regime life and feeling of inescapable

purplepierogi's review against another edition

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3.0

I’m visiting Cluj-Napoca right now, and I chose this book as my token Romanian lit pick as it was recommended on a culturetrip listacle (lol) and also was the only Romanian novel I could find on my various elibrary apps.

I was really interested in the setting: 1970s Bucharest, under the deeply repressive Ceaușescu regime. Our characters are fracturing under pressure from colleagues, students and family reporting their activities to the Securitate, the Romanian secret police. This was fine, if not anything super unique. But about 2/3 through, a “magical realism” element emerges and from that point on I just couldn’t take the work seriously. I can see how the magical element is a manifestation of certain guilt one character feels, but I just didn’t like it. Maybe others who are fans of the surreal will gain more from this book, but it wasn’t for me.

All this being said, this is how I felt about the book, but it’s also difficult to rate it objectively because while I think it was not at all a bad book, it was a horrible audiobook. You always risk a soap opera narrator, and while about sensitive subjects, the actual reading of it just felt wildly over emotive, and that probably contributed significantly to having less empathy for characters than I would otherwise.

iambranchingout's review against another edition

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4.0

This packs quite the punch for such a slender book. I really enjoyed reading this and now want to find out more about flash fiction.

carmenx9's review against another edition

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5.0

A dark and lovely, almost magical realist tale of survival - it was very hard to put down!

kleonard's review against another edition

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5.0

An elegant kaleidoscope of episodes from different points of view that tell the story of a Romanian woman and her family, their power in society and lack thereof, her fears and anxieties, and her eventual escape to the West. Minimalist, magical realist, and a masterpiece of storytelling.

shimauchiha's review against another edition

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4.0

Read this for:
- Romanian communism.
- A Novella made up of short stories.
- Magical realism, and Romanian folklore.
- Unusual methods to solve your issues with your mother.
- [b:In the Dream House|43317482|In the Dream House|Carmen Maria Machado|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547869259l/43317482._SX50_.jpg|65787792] vibes.

Do not read this if:
- You are triggered by

Spoiler

rape, mentions of torture.

- You prefer traditional structures (with no open endings).
- You dislike time-jumps.

My thoughts: 4.5 stars
I loved this little mish-mash of short stories and vignettes. While the stories are all about a Romanian woman's life during communism and make up a cohesive narrative together, they are written in slightly different styles, switching between first and third-person points of view, and between different genres.
I loved it. I don't think I've ever read a book set in Romania, and I loved how it was slightly fragmented while remaining very cohesive. If I could change just one thing about it, I would make the magical realism element stronger and bring it out more at the start of the novel, instead of relatively close to the end. Also, I could have read so much more about Romanian folklore. But "I wish there was more of it" is not really a criticism, is it?