Reviews

Shelf Life, by Livia Franchini

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lborrallo's review

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dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

lupinlover's review against another edition

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reflective slow-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

2.0

emilytryingtoread's review against another edition

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i just didnt really understand what was going on , and what dovelopment was going to happen in the story. Its annoying because at the start I realy liked it.

naomixga's review against another edition

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2.0

2.5

niccakicca's review against another edition

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3.0

This book is about a relationship break up to begin with and then apparently about a women trying to find herself. I found this book enjoyable but really frustrating.

Ruth's boyfriend of ten years asks her for the uptempth time for an open relationship and she says no. So he engineers a fight with her and leaves. So far, so good. Then we go through their last shop together and Ruth tells her story through the items on it. This would make a lot more sense if Ruth's eating disorder was properly discussed in the book. Its hinted at, kind of shown and mixed up in the relationship with her mother, but never addressed or sorted.

Ruth seems to have no friends in high school - we see a weird incident where a boy asks her to kiss him via a note, there are hints that this incident is embarrassing, but we don't see why. We see messages from people that she goes to high school with - but we don't know if they ever interact with her. We see her meet up with one of these girls in later life - both at nursing college when Alanna the friend sleeps with Neil before becomes Ruth's boyf, and then again at the nursing home. We never know if Alanna is her real friend or a bully from her high school days. The hen's night incident seems odd - what kind of friend leaves a very drunk friend to fend for herself with the bar tender?

Neil - is possibly the most fully formed character in the book. We all know Neil. Neil is the man that sent creepy emails to the receptionist in his workplace until she figures out who he is and asks him to stop. Neil is the dude on the dating app who sends you long messages but never reveals who he is or meets you. Neil is the guy who basically stalked Ruth forever, and then when he got her loved her for ten years, cheated on her, both physically and by messaging other woman and then told her he needed time out when he wanted to be with one of them.

The incident in the end - seems very odd - basically Ruth is assaulted by an old guy in the home, she fends him off, but he dies in the tussle. She runs away, leaving the porter to find the aftermath. Then it seems that the police are called, even though the doc signing the death certificate seems unconcerned by the whole thing? Which means that someone called them on her? Then we hear from all of these other people who they think she is - which is weird cause we still don't know who Ruth thinks she is. They allude to her being suicidal. Then in the final scene we see her buying razors. This is where I was at a loss - was she still employed? Given the time slips in the novel is this before or after the incident? So many unanswered questions about characters that are not fully formed.

nursebecks's review against another edition

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3.0

I enjoyed reading this book. I liked how it is a bit different. I feel that there was too much left out though. Plus the ending didn’t make sense to me, is it meant to be a series or something as I am lost on the ending. Otherwise a good read.