A review by nzmerchant
Talking at Night by Claire Daverley

challenging emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Genuinely don’t know how to rate this book because it made me feel so many things all at once, and i hate that but it’s also kinda done it’s job in that sense? Feel like I need a couple of weeks to process this book. Anyone who says it’s like “Normal People” is lying - it’s probably closer to “A Little Life” in terms how much trauma and shit that characters are put through. I will say (no pun intended) that I loved the theme about passions and following what you love, filling your life and time with that. But I cannot stand how much the characters had to endure to learn that. And I don’t think this level of “yearning” should be glorified or aspired to. These kids trauma bonded and formed an unhealthy attachment to each other - whether that got healthier at the end when they worked on themselves, idk but it just seems rather odd to me that everyone thinks this is romantic. Or maybe I’m just projecting at this point because it scares me.

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