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sheryl_macca's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Initially I found this book to be really frustrating. I was enjoying what Girl, Woman, Other had to say but not how it was being said. It didn't feel like a book of short stories to me, it was a novel of intertwined lives told from multiple POVs. I generally love multiple POVs but I was disappointed as I had been expecting something different. The free form structure was also forcing me to read quickly like it was a race. It was distracting me from the content which I did actually like most of the time.
Unfortunately, I disliked some of the first characters I was introduced to, especially Yazz. I almost DNF'd after the first chapter from Yazz. Before I did, I looked up reviews from other readers and I found a lot of people were equally as undecided as me during the first third of the book. These readers were mostly all glad that they had persevered and finished it and so I decided to continue on. It was really interesting to find that so many people had mixed feelings about such a critically acclaimed book!
It was a conscious effort for me to slow down against the flow of words and to absorb the voices properly as I read. The effort didn't particularly lighten as I went on either. The writing style did, however, make the narration more conversational and dynamic. I felt I was a part of the conversation, like I was in the room with these characters and I really did enjoy that. I'm not convinced that the benefits of the free form style outweighed the negatives having now finished the book.
I found that some of the characters were also unreliable narrators, Dominique particularly. I usually avoid unlikeable characters and unreliable narrators and I don't remember ever having read a book containing both before. I was a little wary of some voices and therefore not fully immersed every time they popped up.
Like those reviewers who persuaded me to continue reading, I was eventually glad that I persevered. I found stories that I enjoyed, loveable characters and convincing voices used confidently. My favourite was Bummi but I also loved Hattie and Shirley. These were strong, proud, resilient women. They were aware of the mistakes they had made in life and were courageous enough to admit them. They had interesting and emotional intersectional stories to tell.
What prevented me from DNF-ing straight away was Evaristo's intersectional insights and current ideas and experiences. Thankfully, more and more of this appeared with every chapter as I read on. Evaristo challenges norms, invites debate and explores concepts of racism, feminism, education, sexual assault, gender, motherhood, immigration, LGBTQIA+ issues, domestic abuse, platonic love, forbidden love...and so many other things. Unlike with most books, each of Evaristo's characters experiences a different cocktail of the above at different stages of life as we all actually do.
You don't always need to be loud, shocking or dramatic to be powerful and this book is proof of that. Girl, Woman, Other is dignified, empowering, challenging and, it turns out, much less frustrating than I first thought.
Unfortunately, I disliked some of the first characters I was introduced to, especially Yazz. I almost DNF'd after the first chapter from Yazz. Before I did, I looked up reviews from other readers and I found a lot of people were equally as undecided as me during the first third of the book. These readers were mostly all glad that they had persevered and finished it and so I decided to continue on. It was really interesting to find that so many people had mixed feelings about such a critically acclaimed book!
It was a conscious effort for me to slow down against the flow of words and to absorb the voices properly as I read. The effort didn't particularly lighten as I went on either. The writing style did, however, make the narration more conversational and dynamic. I felt I was a part of the conversation, like I was in the room with these characters and I really did enjoy that. I'm not convinced that the benefits of the free form style outweighed the negatives having now finished the book.
I found that some of the characters were also unreliable narrators, Dominique particularly. I usually avoid unlikeable characters and unreliable narrators and I don't remember ever having read a book containing both before. I was a little wary of some voices and therefore not fully immersed every time they popped up.
Like those reviewers who persuaded me to continue reading, I was eventually glad that I persevered. I found stories that I enjoyed, loveable characters and convincing voices used confidently. My favourite was Bummi but I also loved Hattie and Shirley. These were strong, proud, resilient women. They were aware of the mistakes they had made in life and were courageous enough to admit them. They had interesting and emotional intersectional stories to tell.
What prevented me from DNF-ing straight away was Evaristo's intersectional insights and current ideas and experiences. Thankfully, more and more of this appeared with every chapter as I read on. Evaristo challenges norms, invites debate and explores concepts of racism, feminism, education, sexual assault, gender, motherhood, immigration, LGBTQIA+ issues, domestic abuse, platonic love, forbidden love...and so many other things. Unlike with most books, each of Evaristo's characters experiences a different cocktail of the above at different stages of life as we all actually do.
You don't always need to be loud, shocking or dramatic to be powerful and this book is proof of that. Girl, Woman, Other is dignified, empowering, challenging and, it turns out, much less frustrating than I first thought.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
sarah984's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The way this was written without full stops took a while to get used to, but in the end I liked it. It made the prose feel poetic, and each character still felt unique. It felt like listening to a group of people telling you a story.
There were some perspectives I liked, but some of them felt really mean-spirited (both Yazz and Morgan’s segments read like they were the targets of mockery by the author, which was disappointing) and it's weird that three different people managed to magically rise out of depression on a dime for no reason. The ending felt really predictable and the character it involved annoyed me.
There were some perspectives I liked, but some of them felt really mean-spirited (both Yazz and Morgan’s segments read like they were the targets of mockery by the author, which was disappointing) and it's weird that three different people managed to magically rise out of depression on a dime for no reason. The ending felt really predictable and the character it involved annoyed me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Antisemitism, Eating disorder, Islamophobia, and Mass/school shootings
sachikoriddle's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Grief, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia
tina94's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Rape, Addiction, Child death, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Racial slurs
Minor: Bullying and Police brutality
Post-partum depressionkalira's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book wasn't quite what I expected - a bit more of a collection of disparate character studies, rather than anything more plot-directed, despite the interwoven threads of the character's lives. That interweaving was really intriguing, I love seeing people from different angles and points of view, and the way they crossed and recrossed each others' lives was so well done and fascinating.
There were some content notes I would have appreciated knowing about beforehand, honestly (infidelity, drugs, quite a few sexual violence happenings or references, some of which were handled in such a way that skirted very near triggers for me).
The poetry-prose hybrid style gave it a unique feel. Personally the lack of any full stops anywhere in the book, and the likewise lack of anything to denote beginnings or ends of sentences, made it tiring to read at times. The use of linebreaks midsentence and as a stylistic point was really well done practically everywhere it was used and had a good impact.
I didn't like the book, but it was interesting. I winced through some portions of it (large swathes of Morgan's story, for example) and while sometimes the uncomfortable or bigoted/judgemental views seemed true to characters' perspectives, sometimes there seemed to be something bleeding through from the author's perspective herself.
There were some content notes I would have appreciated knowing about beforehand, honestly (infidelity, drugs, quite a few sexual violence happenings or references, some of which were handled in such a way that skirted very near triggers for me).
The poetry-prose hybrid style gave it a unique feel. Personally the lack of any full stops anywhere in the book, and the likewise lack of anything to denote beginnings or ends of sentences, made it tiring to read at times. The use of linebreaks midsentence and as a stylistic point was really well done practically everywhere it was used and had a good impact.
I didn't like the book, but it was interesting. I winced through some portions of it (large swathes of Morgan's story, for example) and while sometimes the uncomfortable or bigoted/judgemental views seemed true to characters' perspectives, sometimes there seemed to be something bleeding through from the author's perspective herself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
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