A review by missknown
Lullaby by Leïla Slimani
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Right before I pick up Lullaby I gave a quick glance over the reviews and a lot of people were complaining this is not a thriller, that the story is more of a character study. And they were right! This is NOT A THRILLER!! I'm going even a step further and say this is not even a mystery. You won't be on the edge of your seat while reading, you won't be trying to uncover what the characters are hiding because for the reader everything is laid out on the page.
Louise is a nanny of two little kids and the children are dead. Louise killed them. Then, the story goes back to when everything started and present the characters and their personalities. There isn't a tipping point when everything starts to go wrong or dark secrets are being hidden.
The story constructs itself on these characters. Their actions, their thoughts. As readers we see everything. And in the end, Louise is not seen as a victim in any way shape or form. She's still a killer, now a killer with a story.
As I was reading I was questioning myself in what genre this book should fall into. The story is slow to medium paced, there isn't any romance, no mystery, no thrilling, no drama. It's purely a story about characters. Although those characters represent the worst in humans. Not a single character is loveable. Some are just egotistical and others are abusers. But all of them represent a horrifying side of humans. And because of that and other small moments throughout the story, I would put this in the horror genre. In the mild side of horror, but in the genre nonetheless.
The gruesomeness of the crime, what some characters have gone through, some of the thoughts they all have, and the final line - which made my heart skip a bit! - all construct this horrible view of what people are capable of. So it's not the story itself that is scary in any way, instead are the characters actions that create this evil world that sadly exists. So it's almost a psychological horror without fully being one. This is a very complicated book to define!
Overall, I usually don't enjoy a character-based story, I prefer a plot-moved book that is always more fast-paced. Although the chapters are short and not numbered, which gives a continuity feeling I really liked, it doesn't lose much time describing settings or characters leaving their actions and thoughts to do that over time. And because of that, the story is always moving forward. It doesn't feel like nothing is happening.
I enjoyed it more than I was expecting. And if you like books about horrible people, don't mind getting a little freaked out, enjoy the psychological aspect that goes behind committing a crime, this can be the story for you. Although I can't stress enough... THIS IS NOT A THRILLER!
Louise is a nanny of two little kids and the children are dead. Louise killed them. Then, the story goes back to when everything started and present the characters and their personalities. There isn't a tipping point when everything starts to go wrong or dark secrets are being hidden.
The story constructs itself on these characters. Their actions, their thoughts. As readers we see everything. And in the end, Louise is not seen as a victim in any way shape or form. She's still a killer, now a killer with a story.
As I was reading I was questioning myself in what genre this book should fall into. The story is slow to medium paced, there isn't any romance, no mystery, no thrilling, no drama. It's purely a story about characters. Although those characters represent the worst in humans. Not a single character is loveable. Some are just egotistical and others are abusers. But all of them represent a horrifying side of humans. And because of that and other small moments throughout the story, I would put this in the horror genre. In the mild side of horror, but in the genre nonetheless.
The gruesomeness of the crime, what some characters have gone through, some of the thoughts they all have, and the final line - which made my heart skip a bit! - all construct this horrible view of what people are capable of. So it's not the story itself that is scary in any way, instead are the characters actions that create this evil world that sadly exists. So it's almost a psychological horror without fully being one. This is a very complicated book to define!
Overall, I usually don't enjoy a character-based story, I prefer a plot-moved book that is always more fast-paced. Although the chapters are short and not numbered, which gives a continuity feeling I really liked, it doesn't lose much time describing settings or characters leaving their actions and thoughts to do that over time. And because of that, the story is always moving forward. It doesn't feel like nothing is happening.
I enjoyed it more than I was expecting. And if you like books about horrible people, don't mind getting a little freaked out, enjoy the psychological aspect that goes behind committing a crime, this can be the story for you. Although I can't stress enough... THIS IS NOT A THRILLER!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Blood, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Suicide
Minor: Xenophobia
The character Louise has a mental health illness never specified that can be seen through her actions and thoughts. And all the characters in the book are bad people, either egotistical, shallow, entitled, abusers...