damara_reads's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
scann's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
No sé bien qué pensar de este libro. Por momentos se me hizo pretencioso, pero está bien escrito y es un acierto que la autora haya evitado hacer querible al personaje. El principal problema para mí es que el personaje sea una mujer universitaria, su mirada hacia el mundo rural es despectiva y degradante, entonces tiene un tufo a intelectualidad que a mí al menos se me hizo difícil de llevar. Podría resumirlo en: "Los del campo son brutos y salvajes y no me entienden, entonces el escape civilizado es la locura, que estos brutos tampoco entienden." El ejemplo paradigmático de esto es la falta de empatía hacia la suegra en su viudez, como si ese duelo no fuera una emoción compleja porque, total, es el duelo de una mujer de campo. Hay cierta burla hacia la fantasía del patriarca (encarnada en el suegro), que me parece bien, pero la narrativa no tiene matices y se teje una posición demasiado binaria entre lo rural/lo urbano, lo inculto y salvaje/lo culto y domesticado.
graceingram's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
suspicious_salmon's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness
lbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-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
5.0
emsemsems's review against another edition
3.0
Had a very promising start, which led to a messy middle. The ending was frustratingly anticlimactic. Too much animal imagery and symbolism - which I personally did not appreciate. I thought I enjoyed the tone of the narrator even though it was a bit intense and vaguely provocative. I thought wrong - because it got a bit overwhelming - there was no rhythm to it. The constancy of the intensity caused a sort of sedative monotony.
I actually really liked the part where Harwicz wrote about one of the men's perspective, but it was very limited. I wish she had worked on that a bit more. It almost felt pointless to introduce that to the readers if she wasn't going to incorporate that further into the plot later in the book. Unless that was actually the woman/narrator's imagination of him? The narrative was slightly confusing (but I think that that was intentional - and/but it really fits well to the idea/theme of the novel).
In a general sense, I think the book is about a domestic nightmare(s). It explores the domestic life and issues of contemporary/'modern' women and men quite well (to be clear : 'straight marital lives'). There was one bit though that made me feel quite conflicted. The bit where the narrator observes a gay social media influencer contemplating suicide from afar. It was a very short scene - only a couple lines; and it was made to sound like that was just waffled in and presented as a 'roadside festivity/attraction'. Why did Harwicz find it necessary to put that into the book? That paralleled with all the strictly/aggressively 'straight' characters in the book made me roll my eyes involuntarily.
I really enjoyed the beginning, but as a whole the book felt like it was all over the place - did not feel like it had a real 'direction'. I didn't come to this conclusion because of the very disappointing ending, but I think from the middle on, it almost felt like the writer had lost her flow. I'm still giving it 3-stars because of how well the first half of the book was written. It's like one of those TV series - Games of Thrones? Fuck that half-arsed final season.
I actually really liked the part where Harwicz wrote about one of the men's perspective, but it was very limited. I wish she had worked on that a bit more. It almost felt pointless to introduce that to the readers if she wasn't going to incorporate that further into the plot later in the book. Unless that was actually the woman/narrator's imagination of him? The narrative was slightly confusing (but I think that that was intentional - and/but it really fits well to the idea/theme of the novel).
In a general sense, I think the book is about a domestic nightmare(s). It explores the domestic life and issues of contemporary/'modern' women and men quite well (to be clear : 'straight marital lives'). There was one bit though that made me feel quite conflicted. The bit where the narrator observes a gay social media influencer contemplating suicide from afar. It was a very short scene - only a couple lines; and it was made to sound like that was just waffled in and presented as a 'roadside festivity/attraction'. Why did Harwicz find it necessary to put that into the book? That paralleled with all the strictly/aggressively 'straight' characters in the book made me roll my eyes involuntarily.
I really enjoyed the beginning, but as a whole the book felt like it was all over the place - did not feel like it had a real 'direction'. I didn't come to this conclusion because of the very disappointing ending, but I think from the middle on, it almost felt like the writer had lost her flow. I'm still giving it 3-stars because of how well the first half of the book was written. It's like one of those TV series - Games of Thrones? Fuck that half-arsed final season.
kiriamarin's review against another edition
2.0
Este filão da literatura contemporânea sobre maternidade é tão irritante e superficial,desde a escrita, nuance de personagens , ocos, só para mostrar choque ao leitor , no caso deste não me causou nada.Dois extremos, das que amam os seus filhos, ou das que odeiam,definitivamente não é para mim .
ashes2003's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
3.75
Girl idk I think it would be best if you yeeted them kids because I doubt therapy can resurrect your humanity.
The level of unhingedness in this book is absurdly and distructively ugly. It's either a hit or miss due to heaviness.
The level of unhingedness in this book is absurdly and distructively ugly. It's either a hit or miss due to heaviness.
eren_reads's review against another edition
dark
medium-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? Yes
3.0