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amayalo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Cancer, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Violence
nreyno's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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? It's complicated
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Blood, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Rape, and Terminal illness
jess_mango's review against another edition
4.0
I am somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars for this one. This novel won the Women's Fiction Prize in 2014 and was also nominated for a number of other awards.
A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing is told from the perspective of a young lady who has lived in the shadow of her brother's brain tumor for most of her life. She is close to her brother and the impact of his medical issues on her life is deep.
The narrative style is definitely experimental. A step beyond stream of consciousness. It is like a stream of consciousness that's been over-stimulated. The thoughts are flowing but are often cut off or rapidly change direction. It is often confusing and makes you get a bit lost. I suppose it is meant to truly give you a sense of the protagonist's state of mind.
Here's one example: "
I met a man. I met a man. I let him throw me round the bed. And smoked, me, spliffs and choked my neck until I said I was dead. I met a man who took me for walks. Long ones in the country. I offer up. I offer up in the hedge. I met a man I met with her. She and me and his friend to bars at night and drink champagne and bought me chips at every teatime. I met a man with condoms in his pockets. Don't use them. He loves children in his heart. No. I met a man who knew me once. who saw me around when I was a child. Who said you're a fine looking woman now. Who said come back marry me live on my farm. No. I met a man who was a priest I didn't I did. Just as well as many another one would. I met a man. I met a man. who said he'd pay me by the month. who said he'd keep me up in style and I'd be waiting when he arrived. No is what I say. I met a man who hit me a smack. I met a man who cracked my arm. I met a man who said what are you doing out so late at night. I met a man. I met a man. And wash my mouth out with soap. I wish I could. That I did then. I met a man. A stupid thing. I met a man. Should have turned on my heel. I thought. I didn't know to think. I didn't even know to speak. I met a man. I kept on walking. I met a man. I met a man. And I lay down. And slapped and cried and wined and dined. I met a man and many more and I didn't know you at all.”
I listened to this on audio and it was read by the author, which is probably best as she knows the tone and the pacing that was intended. Overall the story was harrowing and sad. I felt for the protagonist but cringed at the life choices she was making. She didn't have it easy but at the same time made some poor choices of her own. I wouldn't say I enjoyed the book, but I could appreciate the author's technique.
this book counts towards the Reading Women 2020 Challenge Task #5: Read a book that won the Women's Fiction Prize
A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing is told from the perspective of a young lady who has lived in the shadow of her brother's brain tumor for most of her life. She is close to her brother and the impact of his medical issues on her life is deep.
The narrative style is definitely experimental. A step beyond stream of consciousness. It is like a stream of consciousness that's been over-stimulated. The thoughts are flowing but are often cut off or rapidly change direction. It is often confusing and makes you get a bit lost. I suppose it is meant to truly give you a sense of the protagonist's state of mind.
Here's one example: "
I met a man. I met a man. I let him throw me round the bed. And smoked, me, spliffs and choked my neck until I said I was dead. I met a man who took me for walks. Long ones in the country. I offer up. I offer up in the hedge. I met a man I met with her. She and me and his friend to bars at night and drink champagne and bought me chips at every teatime. I met a man with condoms in his pockets. Don't use them. He loves children in his heart. No. I met a man who knew me once. who saw me around when I was a child. Who said you're a fine looking woman now. Who said come back marry me live on my farm. No. I met a man who was a priest I didn't I did. Just as well as many another one would. I met a man. I met a man. who said he'd pay me by the month. who said he'd keep me up in style and I'd be waiting when he arrived. No is what I say. I met a man who hit me a smack. I met a man who cracked my arm. I met a man who said what are you doing out so late at night. I met a man. I met a man. And wash my mouth out with soap. I wish I could. That I did then. I met a man. A stupid thing. I met a man. Should have turned on my heel. I thought. I didn't know to think. I didn't even know to speak. I met a man. I kept on walking. I met a man. I met a man. And I lay down. And slapped and cried and wined and dined. I met a man and many more and I didn't know you at all.”
I listened to this on audio and it was read by the author, which is probably best as she knows the tone and the pacing that was intended. Overall the story was harrowing and sad. I felt for the protagonist but cringed at the life choices she was making. She didn't have it easy but at the same time made some poor choices of her own. I wouldn't say I enjoyed the book, but I could appreciate the author's technique.
this book counts towards the Reading Women 2020 Challenge Task #5: Read a book that won the Women's Fiction Prize
ivyninareads's review against another edition
2.0
I've got absolutely no idea how to rate this book or what to rate it. So I guess I won't. Scratch that, yes I will, but I literally have no way to explain how I came to my rating.
For it's themes, I want to give this book a horrid rating. The experiences of the half-formed girl are violent and utterly disturbing. There were too many sections of this novel where I felt physically sick to the stomach. I knew that there would be severe themes going into this book, but they were really just so vile. There were times where I was too uncomfortable and sickened to pick the book back up again. I think reading that kind of thing can be very hard for a lot of people, and for me personally those kinds of themes I have realised, are just not something I want to read about.
However, the final part of the book titled 'The Stolen Child' was doing a lot of interesting things with pacing and language. The short choppy sentences throughout the novel were really something to get used to but also necessary to this story I felt, and they were used really artfully in the final fifty pages or so of the novel. This style of writing felt very akin to prose poetry and there were elements of it that were less severe that I enjoyed quite a lot. The ending of the novel despite being horrific, was quite masterful in its writing to me.
I don't know what to say. I feel sick. I think that might have been the author's intention, but to a degree that makes me even more sick. I don't think I'll be picking up anything similar to this novel for a very long time.
For it's themes, I want to give this book a horrid rating. The experiences of the half-formed girl are violent and utterly disturbing. There were too many sections of this novel where I felt physically sick to the stomach. I knew that there would be severe themes going into this book, but they were really just so vile. There were times where I was too uncomfortable and sickened to pick the book back up again. I think reading that kind of thing can be very hard for a lot of people, and for me personally those kinds of themes I have realised, are just not something I want to read about.
However, the final part of the book titled 'The Stolen Child' was doing a lot of interesting things with pacing and language. The short choppy sentences throughout the novel were really something to get used to but also necessary to this story I felt, and they were used really artfully in the final fifty pages or so of the novel. This style of writing felt very akin to prose poetry and there were elements of it that were less severe that I enjoyed quite a lot. The ending of the novel despite being horrific, was quite masterful in its writing to me.
I don't know what to say. I feel sick. I think that might have been the author's intention, but to a degree that makes me even more sick. I don't think I'll be picking up anything similar to this novel for a very long time.
ali777ali's review against another edition
2.0
could have been 100 pages if it wasn’t for the cumbersome writing style and mumbling half-words
irissiri's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
3.0
mariamwebster's review against another edition
3.5
the idea of writing a book in this fractured, half-formed way is interesting and definitely can be effective, but i don’t know if i liked it. it became tedious real fast
pagesbyheidi's review against another edition
4.0
“who am i talking to? who am i talking to now?”
i think this was a book that i needed to read. i don’t think it is a book i will read again.
the element that jumps out to me immediately is the way the prose is written. it feels like a stream of consciousness, and while that is something hard to get used to and adjust to, it really worked during difficult moments.
i also think the very clever way that the author deteriorated the prose during specific scenes, like using sporadic capital letters or misspelt words, conveyed the panic of the narrator very well.
mcbride told the story fantastically, and i think it was a story that was needed to be told. but it was not one i enjoyed. from a literary viewpoint, an incredible story that tackled extremely triggering and hard topics in a way that comes across as very genuine. but from the viewpoint of someone who has zero idea about the contents of the book, it was a hard journey.
i would not personally recommend this book, as it was such an emotionally challenging read, but i do believe it is a book that is very important to read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
i think this was a book that i needed to read. i don’t think it is a book i will read again.
the element that jumps out to me immediately is the way the prose is written. it feels like a stream of consciousness, and while that is something hard to get used to and adjust to, it really worked during difficult moments.
i also think the very clever way that the author deteriorated the prose during specific scenes, like using sporadic capital letters or misspelt words, conveyed the panic of the narrator very well.
mcbride told the story fantastically, and i think it was a story that was needed to be told. but it was not one i enjoyed. from a literary viewpoint, an incredible story that tackled extremely triggering and hard topics in a way that comes across as very genuine. but from the viewpoint of someone who has zero idea about the contents of the book, it was a hard journey.
i would not personally recommend this book, as it was such an emotionally challenging read, but i do believe it is a book that is very important to read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
rebuiltbybooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
lilybetperry's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0