Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Expectation

Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

rachelyvonnee's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

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nenaveenstra's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

4.5

This book formed a beautiful portrait of three women throughout various stages of their lives. We follow them through love, lust and loss, while they worry about relationships and children and the state of the world. It is at the same time deeply relatable, as unbelievably foreign to me as a 23 year-old. The things they complain about while being able to afford a house of their own and impromptu trips to Greece is insane to me, but at the same time they discuss feminism and climate change with a sense of urgency that I feel just as much.

Aside from the themes, I was also incredibly moved by the writing in this novel - its poetic nature, and the emotion with which the most mundane situations are put to paper. It felt deeply personal, these little sneak peeks into these women's lives. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is willing to listen.

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ceedy's review

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challenging emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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

3.5

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emilo's review

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emotional 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
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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annashan's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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lydiavsbooks's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

This is a story of 3 women in their 30s: one struggling with motherhood, one with her acting career, and another on her 4th try at IVF. They all lead messy lives with complex relationships while just trying to get through life.

I wish I'd loved this, no plot just women is usually something I'd love but unfortunately I found the characters to be hard to route for: they all did pretty sucky things but without being explored in enough depth for it to be somewhat sympathetic or even really that interesting. Don't get me wrong, normal people making slightly shitty decisions is something I'm absolutely here for, but for me that needs to come with a deeper look at why the characters are doing what they're doing, about their internal experience, their hurt and their growth. This just felt a little lacking for me and possibly a little surface level. Overall I just wish it had said more.

If the writing had been impactful or profound it mightve earned more points for me, but unfortunately I just don't think it had a lasting impression. However I do think this is one that has been unfairly compared to Sally Rooney far too often, as have seemingly the majority of contemporary literary fiction recently. I think this comparison sets the wrong expectations, and doesn't let it be its own thing. This isn't a bad book at all, it didn't work overly well for me but I enjoyed it enough while I was reading it and I think/hope it might work really well for others

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bella_cavicchi's review

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emotional reflective medium-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

3.5

On paper, EXPECTATION has all the elements of a true Bella favorite: the focus on female friendships and coming-of-age (or simply: whatever it means to be an adult and a woman), a "slice-of-life" literary plot, poetic and captivating writing, etc. And I can't lie, I did really enjoy the time I spent with Hannah, Cate, and Lissa, the three main characters at the center, and I praise Hope for not being afraid of depicting drifting friendships as a consequence of nothing more than time.

And yet! I am frustrated that we live in a world where women are defined by their proximity (or lack thereof) to motherhood, and I'm saddened that EXPECTATION, however well-written it is, reinforces the idea that I exist to reproduce. True or not as that may be, I was and remain hungry for more nuance.

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