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laurakfinnegan's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, and Grief
theabee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? No
5.0
Haunting, and yet somehow there’s a feeling of hope in how the characters move forward. Despite everything and the many unknowns, they keep planning for the next day, the next year, the next step in their personal growth. They help each other and look out for each other, even at the end of the line
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Blood
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
_meganrose's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
averyalexis's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
4.75
This book made me get introspective and posed a lot of philosophical questions about the human experience. Don’t read if you are looking for something light.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Sexual content and Suicide
greenknightemrys's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, and Suicide attempt
iamcarlib's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
lonelyhyperion's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
I, who doesn't like dystopias, loved this book. It is deeply atmospheric and does a brilliant job of dissecting what it means to be human. I cried at several points.
I think I prefer the fact that you don't really find out anything about how the characters came to be where they are. (If you're the kind of person that needs explanations and closure in novels, beware.) Humans love making narrative sense of things, but really, we all exist in the absurd, which the protagonist embraces. It made me see my own life in a different light.
I think I prefer the fact that you don't really find out anything about how the characters came to be where they are. (If you're the kind of person that needs explanations and closure in novels, beware.) Humans love making narrative sense of things, but really, we all exist in the absurd, which the protagonist embraces. It made me see my own life in a different light.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i did not realize this was dystopian/sci-fi. it was still really good. i do wish there was a little bit more of an explanation/closure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder
now_booking's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This was an interesting and unique exploration of what it might be like to come of age in a world completely without the trappings of culture, history, familial and social baggage and of course, men. Yet, despite the title, this is not a criticism or analysis of gender norms or an argument against the patriarchy. Indeed, my reading of “(not having ever) known men” is that the the nameless heroine may not only be referring to the male race even though that’s literally how she frames it and thinks about it, but figuratively (or synecdochically), in a broader sense, she refers to not ever having known “man” or the human race and all its trappings. For the heroine, raised in captivity, in a planet that might be earth or not at a time that might be contemporary or futuristic, conditioned to avoid human touch, raised without a name, without a fixation on identity or appearance or privacy, without understanding love or connection, no concept of time or seasons or of life or death, or art or history or the scope of the world or the universe, she has to find her own meaning to human existence, craft her own understanding of community and society and the vagaries of human behaviour, of time and body, sexuality and society.
In this coming of age tale, the heroine who spends much of her life isolated recounts her story as she remembers it perhaps pursuing the natural human instinct to be acknowledged to have existed at some time in history. Because of the unique way the heroine was raised (or raised herself), she’s not given to much emotion, so this feels like a very detached recounting of what is simultaneously and extraordinary and mundane existence. It’s not at all an exciting book but it is one that keeps you going even if just in the hopes that you’ll learn along with the protagonist where she and the 39 other women were kidnapped and taken to and for what reason.
I overall thought this was really unique and different and I’m glad I read it but I’m not passionate about it. I thought there was very little “so what” about having never known men. Towards the end, the author tried to make some inferences that are beautifully written but they never quite landed in elaborating on “the point”. This felt somewhat experimental for experiments sake and I wish the author had gone a little further with this. I recommend reading this if you’re looking for something quiet and uneventful, thought-provoking, and slightly disturbing (and sad).
In this coming of age tale, the heroine who spends much of her life isolated recounts her story as she remembers it perhaps pursuing the natural human instinct to be acknowledged to have existed at some time in history. Because of the unique way the heroine was raised (or raised herself), she’s not given to much emotion, so this feels like a very detached recounting of what is simultaneously and extraordinary and mundane existence. It’s not at all an exciting book but it is one that keeps you going even if just in the hopes that you’ll learn along with the protagonist where she and the 39 other women were kidnapped and taken to and for what reason.
I overall thought this was really unique and different and I’m glad I read it but I’m not passionate about it. I thought there was very little “so what” about having never known men. Towards the end, the author tried to make some inferences that are beautifully written but they never quite landed in elaborating on “the point”. This felt somewhat experimental for experiments sake and I wish the author had gone a little further with this. I recommend reading this if you’re looking for something quiet and uneventful, thought-provoking, and slightly disturbing (and sad).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Toxic relationship
mikathereviewer's review against another edition
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cancer, Self harm, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Suicide, Dementia, and Abandonment