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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
I like how I felt drawn into puzzling out the narrator's psychology and personality. The blurriness of mothers as daughters, and daughters as mothers, was well done. The ending was satisfying to me. (P.S. I'm not convinced that a pinecone could hurt that much?)
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The mother daughter relationships were so beautifully complex, how each one mimicked the other in such a unique way. Elena ferrante truly has such a unique voice, I loved how the doll represented motherhood, how the body becomes porous and grotesque when motherhood is embodied.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
emotional
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A brilliant, rather disturbing and complex novel about ambiguity toward one's own children and children in general, all told against a backdrop of a perfectly imagined southern Italy. The sort of book that makes me wonder why I couldn't get on with the more famous Neapolitan novels.