Reviews

Women Talking by Miriam Toews

madalinka's review

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0

aoogah's review

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

lucia_23's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5/5

la reflexión en este libro sobre todo (!!!) es impresionante. se cuestiona desde la religión, las creencias y el contexto cosas como la fe, la violencia, la obediencia y el cuidado.

no le doy 5 estrellas porque there’s something missing, pero sin duda se merece 4.5

he leído muchas reseñas de personas indignadas sobre el hecho de que el narradOr es O y no una A, pero es parte de entender el contexto sociocultural que están viviendo estas mujeres. es una forma de no separar al mundo entre buenas (nosotras) y malos (ellos), sino entender que hay un sistema que nos obliga a actuar y, a veces, estas acciones son violentas y no tienen que ser permitidas, como es el caso del libro.

lo disfruté mucho! se lee muy rápido y es una reflexión constante que tenemos que hacer, sobre todo para crear relaciones y prácticas de cuidado con y para las demás.

alli_oopsie's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

dstack's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

andreatypesbraille's review

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2.0

Heartbreaking, gut wrenching, insightful, and also incredibly boring and a cyclical rehashing of religious tenets from the Mennonite faith that devolve into very abstract think pieces.

TW: SA, CSA, suicide, extreme violence

I think my main issue is that this was not presented in a manner, or voice, that I was hoping to hear from. And also the bulk of the conversation, what the women were talking about, is more abstract and examines philosophical elements of their faith. But it’s done in a very elementary way. It feels like the women are speaking as a child would about God, God’s expectations of them, possible eternal consequences, and also it felt like the first third of the book was the women trying to figure out whether or not they were humans or animals.

I am sure part of that is meant to relate back to how the women have not been allowed the ability to grow and learn, or even be treated as humans next to their male counterparts. And in fact the dialogue mentions that at times. The women truly do not feel part of the community, but more as commodities. However the way the conversation was handled, the narrator being male and constantly interjecting his thoughts and wants into the “minutes” of this meeting of women, led this to be very lackluster.

sophi_a's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

kades26's review

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

y2k8's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

maisilu24's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

a brilliant and horrifying tale that could’ve come right out of the handmaids tale universe.. it was just a bit too slow for me overall