Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Milkman

I find this one tough to review because there were aspects that I absolutely loved (the world building and the social commentary around the Troubles). However, I found the writing style almost unbearable at points (the stream of consciousness prose, the long-winded way of addressing characters, the timeline jumps).

The bottom line is that I didn't really like a single character in the book, and even the protagonist made some infuriating decisions at points and overall my feeling was 'this place is not for you, you are above these people and you need to get the hell out of there' - which although a simplification, seemed preferable to sticking around in such a place. Also, her mum was a total arsehole and I don't know if I was supposed to like her, but I certainly didn't.

Overall, I'm glad I read it, and I feel like most of the aspects I took issue with were at least strong intentional stylistic choices made by the author, and I can always respect a big swing.

Oh and ALSO, the random 11th hour gay subplot was egregious.

Content Warnings

just_jess02's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense 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

1.5

This book feels like a repetitive, overly wordy stream of consciousness. It’s like being in a conversation that you can’t get out of and can’t get a word in. The text is quick moving and dense but the plot is soooooo slow. The 348 pages could easily have been about 100 and been a more impactful/interesting story. The last 1/4 of the book was much better but not worth the journey to get there. How can this be so dense yet so empty? There’s just not enough meat here other than some general themes.

On the other hand, Anna did a great job of making the reader understand the existence of middle sister. I felt the anxiety, the fear, the connections, the paranoid state of the community, etc. Maybe she just did too good of a job with the feelings of time passing, the long/drawn out thoughts of every moment, the mundane nature of every day life. When I got to the end I felt like a deserved a big payoff for making it through… but it sort of just fizzled out in a “life goes on” idea.

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nuii's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This is tough... I quite enjoyed the story, not the way it was written...The whole thing almost felt like a fever dream.
The narrator was going through a torturous trauma and I feel it just by reading how it was sucking the life out of her.
However:
Her stream of consciousness, her jumping back and forth through time and events and thoughts are so tedious, confusing sometimes and a lot to take in. It went on and on and on, by the time it makes one point, it has also gone through 10 others, like sitting in someone else's head with non-stop yammering. Despite being quite funny from time to time, it was mentally taxing to read and put me in a slump for a whole month.
The story and the characters are frustrating, though I guess it is the point, due to the time and place it took place in (a very suffocating environment!). I felt like giving up a lot but was curious enough to pull through...and now I'm mostly glad it is over.

P/S: after a while I realized I still occasionally think of this book, so it did have more impact on me than I first thought. Bumping it from 2.75 to 3☆

Content Warnings

lennie_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense 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

Content Warnings

readbycarina's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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lauraspeechly's review against another edition

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4.75

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annick's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective tense slow-paced

4.25

I was really moved by the writing style and the narrator with Belfast accent. The meandering and proustian narrative was one to embrace. But I did struggle to stay focused on the book. I had previously attempted to read it three time before I finally finished it.

The collective and generational traumas of sectarian violence has so many layers of pain and numbness and miscommunication in this book. The narrator’s experience of being stalked by an unwanted older man, becomes hard to bear when she reveals she is misunderstood and cannot trust any others to help her escape this situation with Milkman.

I enjoyed the writing style. No names but descriptions. But who was Jason ? And Neil? They were mentioned near the end.

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