Reviews

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

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anzz26's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

aoife_t123's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

fkshg8465's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I used to say that all the answers to the unanswered questions in life would become to me in death. Reading this book makes new wonder about that again. What a unique perspective the child lived with, and what a sad life she was forced into. This is the kind of book I’ll be thinking about for a long time after.

If your version has an afterword, it’s worth reading.

Content Warnings

scarleto's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

A moving story about the importance of community and what it means to be human. This book was at times Kafkaesque in its absurdity and its ponderance on the mundanity of the narrater’s life, which leant itself all the more to the question: what separates a human from an animal. These themes leant themselves to some really beautiful moments of writing and thought provoking quotes, that had me reading them over and over again. Beautiful writing, gripping story, 4.25 stars.