Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - Yo que nunca supe de los hombres

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Yo que nunca supe de los hombres by Jacqueline Harpman

13 reviews

sop17hie's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

A very reflective book, I really felt the emotions of the narrator.

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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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poirot's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

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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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rowanelisa's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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rainbopagn's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I spend through this in about a day. Harpman’s prose totally drowns you in the story, a bit rambling a times and harshly blunt at others. You leave the book thinking about what makes you human. My one complaint is that we never learn our narrators name. I would have liked to see the women help name her given she was their child, whether they liked it or not.

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