Scan barcode
melissarochelle's review against another edition
4.0
I put off reading this for months because I didn't want to leave Elena, Lila, and Naples behind. Everything I loved about the previous three books is still here -- it's SO MUCH like reading a prime-time soap-y drama. I will admit that this one seemed to go back a little slower -- perhaps because the characters were aging?
I don't know...Less intrigue, maybe?-- will she or won't she? OH SHE DID...and here's the lesson she took 400 pages to learn.
Words...I just haven't them for how much I loved this series.
I don't know...Less intrigue, maybe?-- will she or won't she? OH SHE DID...and here's the lesson she took 400 pages to learn.
Words...I just haven't them for how much I loved this series.
nina86's review against another edition
5.0
Legit literary masterpiece. I didn’t want this series to end. Easily one of my all-time favorites.
marycathmc's review against another edition
4.0
Heart-breaking ending to the Neapolitan Novels. The one consistent thread through it all was trying to figure out why Elena put up with Lena and why she considered her a friend. She was mercurial at best; narcissistic and downright mean at worst. She took what she wanted without regard for anyone else. Your basic worst nightmare of a friend. My Brilliant Friend indeed, but which was brilliant? Thought-provoking and worth the read. Frightening depiction of Naples.
magalha's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
alastaircraig's review against another edition
5.0
It's clear now why this story needed to be told over four books and 1,696 pages.
At so many moments a lesser author than Elena Ferrante might have stepped away from the lives of Lila and Lenu; left them suspended in some tentative moment of happiness or understanding or closure.
Instead she forces them to wake up the next day. To go on living. To deal with the collateral damage of every decision. To see through the bad times that follow the good; the good times that follow the bad. To watch years become decades. To remain exposed to the cruel random curveballs of an uncaring universe. To find moments of catharsis and connection in between that can make it all worthwhile, if only briefly.
In short: she permits each woman a real and complete human life, forever ebbing and flowing, rarely in sync with the other, and all the more beautiful for it.
And somehow, all that chaos and entropy really does add up to something great and conclusive. For all the questions unanswered, and all the life left to live, I cannot think of a more correct or fitting place to say goodbye.
At so many moments a lesser author than Elena Ferrante might have stepped away from the lives of Lila and Lenu; left them suspended in some tentative moment of happiness or understanding or closure.
Instead she forces them to wake up the next day. To go on living. To deal with the collateral damage of every decision. To see through the bad times that follow the good; the good times that follow the bad. To watch years become decades. To remain exposed to the cruel random curveballs of an uncaring universe. To find moments of catharsis and connection in between that can make it all worthwhile, if only briefly.
In short: she permits each woman a real and complete human life, forever ebbing and flowing, rarely in sync with the other, and all the more beautiful for it.
And somehow, all that chaos and entropy really does add up to something great and conclusive. For all the questions unanswered, and all the life left to live, I cannot think of a more correct or fitting place to say goodbye.
weenie60's review against another edition
1.0
Omg I wished I would have abandoned this series after the first. Save yourself some time and skip them. Drags on and on about nothing which nothing could have been incorporated into the 1st book.
yak_nika's review against another edition
4.0
Підсумок по всій серії - я таки її не до кінця зрозуміла і прийняла
beritt's review against another edition
4.0
This has been the best series, and some of the best books I've read in the last couple of years. Wow.
melannedavis's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
4.0