Reviews with content warning for Self harm - Yo que nunca supe de los hombres

So sad but so captivating I found myself waking up in the middle of the night to continue reading it bc it wouldn’t leave my mind. I was hoping for a different ending but that would have changed the meaning of the book of course. Will be thinking about this for a long time.

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_meganrose's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This is unlike anything I have ever read. Dark. Mysterious. Chilling. Tragic. I am normally not the biggest fan of dystopian novels, but I really enjoyed this read. Only complaint is the chapters are sooooo long. Wish it would have been divided up a bit more into shorter chapters with all of the same content.

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iamcarlib's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. Thought provoking, intriguing right from the first page, and the writing style is very different but flows so beautifully. It was a true pleasure to read. I wish I hadn't read it so that I could enjoy it all over again.

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vivisms_82's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes

4.0

Only a small book but it packs a thought provoking, philosophical punch. The subject matter is definitely not a cheery, summer read! It is bleak and heavy at times. I guess, for me, it is a tale of the highest oppression; a world where sensory deprivation and social interaction is forbidden; basic education is no longer, zero privacy (no toileting or washing alone), living in constant fear of violence under the watch of guards. For our main character (who is nameless) we see the impact of all this on her as a human that knows no differently. We begin with her as a child among adult women - no men are imprisoned however the guards are male. I found this deeply reflective on the human experience. Thought it was terrific and not sure why it's not as well known in the English speaking world. I keep thinking about it weeks after finishing it. This book has been described as one that explores loneliness and survival. For me, it's also about our need for connection to the people we share our world with and the need to make sense of the world we live in. It's about how our world, the people in our circle and life experience shape our view and sense of self. This book will make you question how devastating it can be when the human experience we know has been stripped away and our senses, brains and souls aren't nourished, stimulated or challenged.

** note: If you are one of those people that require answers to all your questions then this is not for you. And I think that (at least for me) only strengthens the story.

Our protagonist gets her information from the women that are all older than her. Not from experiencing anything first hand or learning from a book, tv, internet etc. So once they escape, her view of her world is largely shaped by these 39 women - and their varying opinions, and of their own faded memories and experiences of pre oppressive, imprisoned life. They have not forgotten the violence and that is what makes them so obedient. But their memories pre-imprisonment is vastly lost. My point is, we the reader don't get further answers because our protagonist doesn't know them. That, for me, is what made this book so terrific - no explanation of why she and all the other people were in cells, of their world before or where they are now - is this earth in the future? Is this another planet? A parallel universe? Where is everyone? By not having these questions answered, we are forced to see this world and horrible human experience through this girl's eyes - a girl that knows no different. Truly masterful.

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hk255's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this book! It's unique and fits in with exactly what I like in a book.

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liesthemoontells's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.75

This was a beautiful, haunting, moving book. I had put off reading it as the themes sounded incredibly heavy, but after a friend's recommendation and assurance that it was more of a reflective read I decided to tackle it.

While the book's themes are complex, heavy, and at times very dark, Harpman's treatment of the subject matter is more meditative and philosophical than shock provoking. There are many ruminations on what it means to be human, on navigating love, gender, and human connection when you have been given no reference point.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who needs resolutions to their mystery fiction but if you are looking for a powerful and ambivalent piece of speculative literature I could not recommend it more.

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mikathereviewer's review against another edition

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dark slow-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

2.0

Literally nothing happens in this book. We get thought-provoking questions, but never answers. We get a little bit of plot (barely) and get no answers and rather plot holes. We get a character-driven story that has flat characters. There were over 40 characters but we only got the names of about 10 and only any information besides that of 3 or 4 (including protagonist!). But weirdly we get explained with great detail how almost all 40 people died instead of just moving on and perhaps trying to make the pace a bit faster in the book as literally everything was slow-paced and even major events weren't faster than medium-paced. You can't tell me that this book was fast-paced. 'Cause so many things repeat itself, especially near the end, which by the way is A LOT dragged, instead of ending it sooner. We get to know due to the protagonist not knowing these things what genital body parts are, where they are, how to write and how to read and so much more but actual questions (which I don't mention to not spoiler) were NEVER answered. One could say it's due to the book wanting us to think, but honestly it feels more like the story wasn't really finished or thought through. I get it when we should get our own answers for thought-provoking questions, but for the plot of this story? Plots are supposed to be explained and as I said, while reading it felt more like a unfinished or not thoufht through story than actually wanting us to make up our own theories.

I gave it 2 instead of 1 star as we get 1 plot related thing actually answered (even though I didn't think about it that much and was rather useless, but we get at least 1 answer so that's fair I guess). I also gave it 2 instead of 1 star as the beginning wasn't actually that bad. The whole though provoking questions and the backstories of that happened before the story started was interesting. And the consequences and rules were interesting too and they also somewhat got explained or we could at least make up our own theories about it, which in this case (since it wasn't a major thing) was actually cool.

15. July 2024

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tlaynejones's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

2.0

No.
Maybe my brain has melted from the relentless onslaught of euthanasia (ableism?) and suicide but I don’t think this is a particularly feminist novel. I think even if it was back in the mid 90s, it doesn’t stand the test of time. I also found some of the events/ learnings/ descriptions related to the protagonist to feel clunky and or inauthentic.
This is a bleak story, and there is not a lot of complex character development; other than the MC all the characters are barely sketched in.
Read with caution

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