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A review by hollowspine
This Is Not Over by Holly Brown
3.0
3.5
I wasn't sure where I stood on this book, especially with it's slow build up, but in the end I enjoyed the pieces of the puzzle fitting together near the end of the novel. I may not have loved either character, who were two realistically portrayed women, both flawed and shaped by a society that generally isn't kind to women, especially those who don't have wealthy backgrounds or who are old.
There were some places in this book that were a little hard to read, especially when it came to the older woman's relationship with her son, who is an addict. One aspect of their extremely fraught relationship is revealed which shakes the women's entire world view and it made me feel extremely sad about humanity in general, because as much as this is fictional, people can be so depressingly vile and predictably cruel.
It's also a book that despite speaking to human conditions that have always been around, lying, abuse, deception, justification of behaviors, addiction - it also speaks to something evolving with our use of technology. We can hurt each other remotely through social media, we can track and watch and think we know each other without ever having a conversation, we make assumptions based on our perception of an emoji or random punctuation.
I'm glad I read to the end, because despite the fact that although I could sympathize with both characters I didn't like either of them much and it took a long time for me to feel an investment in their stories.
I wasn't sure where I stood on this book, especially with it's slow build up, but in the end I enjoyed the pieces of the puzzle fitting together near the end of the novel. I may not have loved either character, who were two realistically portrayed women, both flawed and shaped by a society that generally isn't kind to women, especially those who don't have wealthy backgrounds or who are old.
There were some places in this book that were a little hard to read, especially when it came to the older woman's relationship with her son, who is an addict. One aspect of their extremely fraught relationship is revealed which shakes the women's entire world view and it made me feel extremely sad about humanity in general, because as much as this is fictional, people can be so depressingly vile and predictably cruel.
It's also a book that despite speaking to human conditions that have always been around, lying, abuse, deception, justification of behaviors, addiction - it also speaks to something evolving with our use of technology. We can hurt each other remotely through social media, we can track and watch and think we know each other without ever having a conversation, we make assumptions based on our perception of an emoji or random punctuation.
I'm glad I read to the end, because despite the fact that although I could sympathize with both characters I didn't like either of them much and it took a long time for me to feel an investment in their stories.