Take a photo of a barcode or cover
readingcities's review against another edition
4.0
Wealthy English families on vacation in Italy and nothing really happens but so does everything – that atmospheric genre I adore
apechild's review against another edition
4.0
I did really enjoy this book, so it´s probably going to be one of hers that I hang on to. She´s great at writing about childhood. In this case it´s about a 17 year old girl. OK, older, but from what happens in the book, you can see that she´s still growing up and in distinctly naive and insecure in certain areas.
Lara, our main character, lives with her mum in London (standard hippy mum who brought up child as single parent in hippy places around the world - this is basically the same mother who seems to appear in all Freud´s books that I have read). Her father, who is a live-alone academic type, decides to go to Italy to stay with a dying friend, and he invites Lara along. This story is about their weeks in Italy.
Love Falls is a waterfall site that they visit a couple of times. But it´s probably also a reflection on the book, as she´s growing up during this period, and I think becoming disillushioned with the idea of romantic love - in that seeing that it doesn´t work like a fairy tale, people are complex and some have affairs, some simply can´t do long term relationships etc... SPOILERS... one thing that was a little frustrating was the rape and the lack of action or conclusion to it afterwards. Almost like it was one of those things you have to do growing up, and it´s not a big deal. She doesn´t put up much protest when it´s happening and is really quite inert - as I said, I think she´s still a naive child in a lot of ways - but nothing happens afterwards. The guy who did it is part of the insanely rich group that Lara and her father spend some time with. They use people like entertainment toys, and there isn´t much human compassion amoungst them. So this guy who rapes her is really is nasty piece of work, a predator taking advantage of this girl he knew was too lacking in confidence to stop him. And yet he shows no remorse afterwards and he doesn´t get his comupance, which is very annoying. So in a way, the book is left a bit randomly open ended.
Lara, our main character, lives with her mum in London (standard hippy mum who brought up child as single parent in hippy places around the world - this is basically the same mother who seems to appear in all Freud´s books that I have read). Her father, who is a live-alone academic type, decides to go to Italy to stay with a dying friend, and he invites Lara along. This story is about their weeks in Italy.
Love Falls is a waterfall site that they visit a couple of times. But it´s probably also a reflection on the book, as she´s growing up during this period, and I think becoming disillushioned with the idea of romantic love - in that seeing that it doesn´t work like a fairy tale, people are complex and some have affairs, some simply can´t do long term relationships etc... SPOILERS... one thing that was a little frustrating was the rape and the lack of action or conclusion to it afterwards. Almost like it was one of those things you have to do growing up, and it´s not a big deal. She doesn´t put up much protest when it´s happening and is really quite inert - as I said, I think she´s still a naive child in a lot of ways - but nothing happens afterwards. The guy who did it is part of the insanely rich group that Lara and her father spend some time with. They use people like entertainment toys, and there isn´t much human compassion amoungst them. So this guy who rapes her is really is nasty piece of work, a predator taking advantage of this girl he knew was too lacking in confidence to stop him. And yet he shows no remorse afterwards and he doesn´t get his comupance, which is very annoying. So in a way, the book is left a bit randomly open ended.
blairsatellite's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
esme_may's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Grief, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal cruelty and Pregnancy
egioia's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not really sure how I felt about this book. I liked the story, but I thought it was very underdeveloped. Also underdeveloped were the characters. I didn't feel like I got to know wny of them, including the protagonist, Lara. The ending managed to be abrupt and too tidy, all at the same time.
koplomps's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Incest, Self harm, and Pregnancy
glabeson's review against another edition
Too Freudian for me. Can't fault her, just not my cup of tea.
elolib's review against another edition
4.0
Very well written novel of a girls discovery of adulthood in the rolling Italian hills of Tuscany. On the cover of the book Marie Claire said that it was 'Deliciously unsettling' however the rape scene did not really seem to effect the rest of the novel, and I found it was more about Lara's relationship with Kip, which did not seem very believable. Criticisms aside a very enjoyable read, which made me long to travel to Italy.