A review by cher_n_books
One Hundred Days by Alice Pung
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
3 stars = Good and worthwhile but something held it back from being great.
Sometimes the beast and the prince are the same person...
I picked this one up because the synopsis hints at a difficult mother/daughter relationship and I typically enjoy books that include this topic. While that was definitely a theme, it is mostly a running narrative of a teenager that becomes pregnant and struggles to find herself and independence while simultaneously being in great need of her mother’s assistance.
I feel as though I have fallen in a hole and can’t get back out. People - teachers, friends, doctors - have peered at me from above the hole, but their arms are not long enough to haul me up. They wave and think they are helping but all they are doing is blocking out the light.
The book trudges along at a slower pace but the author has a talented writing style. The blurb on the back states this novel can feel tense and claustrophobic which is exactly how it made me feel, and I cannot honestly say I enjoyed that. I never considered DNF’ing and wanted to see how it ended for the family, but it is definitely an emotionally exhausting read.
Your Grand Mar and I - we have been like two puzzles that someone dropped on the floor. We didn’t know which bits belonged where. We were too frantic putting ourselves back together again that we just grabbed at pieces of each other. We were hasty, pressing our sharp corners down whether they fitted or not.
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First Sentence: Ever since your Grand Par left, your Grand Mar and I share the double bed.
Favorite Quote: I don’t go back searching for the Once that started this Upon a Time.
Sometimes the beast and the prince are the same person...
I picked this one up because the synopsis hints at a difficult mother/daughter relationship and I typically enjoy books that include this topic. While that was definitely a theme, it is mostly a running narrative of a teenager that becomes pregnant and struggles to find herself and independence while simultaneously being in great need of her mother’s assistance.
I feel as though I have fallen in a hole and can’t get back out. People - teachers, friends, doctors - have peered at me from above the hole, but their arms are not long enough to haul me up. They wave and think they are helping but all they are doing is blocking out the light.
The book trudges along at a slower pace but the author has a talented writing style. The blurb on the back states this novel can feel tense and claustrophobic which is exactly how it made me feel, and I cannot honestly say I enjoyed that. I never considered DNF’ing and wanted to see how it ended for the family, but it is definitely an emotionally exhausting read.
Your Grand Mar and I - we have been like two puzzles that someone dropped on the floor. We didn’t know which bits belonged where. We were too frantic putting ourselves back together again that we just grabbed at pieces of each other. We were hasty, pressing our sharp corners down whether they fitted or not.
-------------------------------------------
First Sentence: Ever since your Grand Par left, your Grand Mar and I share the double bed.
Favorite Quote: I don’t go back searching for the Once that started this Upon a Time.