Reviews

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

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sumire_jb_'s review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes

5.0

charlypeters's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

I usually find it irritating when writers withhold a lot of context info, but it felt really purposeful here. This story felt fresh and unique despite it sharing similarities with a lot of other texts from the genre. I'll be thinking about the child and her experiences for a long time. I would love to have taught this book or covered it with a reading group.

sarahdrh's review

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dark reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

star_lover's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 stars

Song for the book: Wisdom by French for rabbits

I who have never known men is a thought provoking short novel about the survival of our narrator in a dystopian world where nothing and nobody seems to exist. The said narrator travels along with her other survivors—39 other older women, exploring their weird surroundings.

At first, I had no idea where the story was leading. I still can’t fully grasp what happened. I had to look up what the whole story was about because I’m pretty sure the intention of the book flew right over my head.

In the end, both the narrator and us, readers, do not end up with an explanation. Where did all the other humans go? Where did the guards go? What happened to their Earth? Why were they locked up in the first place? Though it would have been great if we’ve had any answers, I feel like that would have distracted us from the main plot line and moral behind this book.

To sum up, this was a good read. But unfortunately, it didn’t full grasp my attention. I had to reread the same sentences sometimes because I ended up getting distracted. Still, it was a great read and to anyone who loves classical, philosophical, and feminism books, you’d love this for sure!

frankda's review

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challenging inspiring 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? No

4.0

dazzy's review

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dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

ioananana's review

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inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This novel leaves you in goosebumps, staring in the distance, wondering why you haven’t read it sooner.

I could perhaps describe it as a distant cousin of The Handmaid’s Tale, but perhaps they are similar in only the female-centred dystopian universe. I devoured it in a couple days, only because of work, otherwise I’d have finished it in a day. It’s the type of novel you can’t physically put down and you binge it in one go.

It’s wonderfully written; it makes you appreciate your everyday mundane objects and habits. It surprised me over and over, but not with your generic ‘plot twists’, but rather elegantly and realistically (as realistic as possible in a dystopian novel!).

A wonderful short novel that would be worthy of considered a classic; it’s a must read.