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camillebergeron's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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
5.0
merveilleux, captivant, magnifique. je n'ai jamais eu autant l'impression qu'une autrice avait posé une partie de moi sur papier.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
emma_b_rhodes's review
emotional
reflective
sad
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? Yes
3.0
Needs content warnings esp. For sexual assault, suicide, and predatory older men. Beautifully written -- very poetic. Lots of characters that sometimes blend in with each other. Gets difficult differentiating who's who.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
Implied rape while asleep. Much of the sexual abuse/assault/rape concerns minors with older men.nini23's review
sad
3.5
The Music Game, originally published as Le jeu de la musique in 2017, is translated from French by JC Sutcliffe. Featuring polyvocal narratives of a group of millenial friends transitioning into adulthood living in Montreal and Ontario, the chronology of events moves back and forth disconcertingly with no discernable pattern. These youths are highly aware of social issues such as colonialism, capitalism, racism; they've taken part in the 2012 Quebec student protests, the countersummit protest at the G20 in Toronto 2010, Occupy. When asked what they did, they would reply, "I'm a revolutionary." However, the infinite fearless possibilities of youth have dwindled into more defining limited choices.
Another day everything is ugly, grey, too late. Too late. You've missed the train. Even if mathematically speaking you have time to do everything, you don't have any time left. Even if nothing is broken, everything is broken.
This is written by Franco-Ontarian Sabrina who is working gig economy jobs, saving up to visit her gender fluid love interest Jess living at a squatter commune in Oakland California, trying to battle ennui and inertia. She describes the contempt and indignity faced when accessing unemployment benefits at the Emploi-Quebec office.
The friends worry about paying rent, they have room-mates, they drink, smoke, sing call-and-response songs, denounce parents for being bourgeois. I liked the glimpses into millenial Québécois culture. They battle mental health illness, domestic abuse, parental neglect. Some are doing graduate studies, others are trying to figure out the direction and meaning of their lives.
I found it difficult to pierce together a complete story from the vignettes but maybe that's the point. These messy complicated lives continue, the characters struggle on as best as they can. The book ends very abruptly, mid-sentence and I wondered if I had incorrectly downloaded the elibrary book but decided it must be for artistic effect. After reading, I did search for Basho's Orphan's Lament to listen to and its haunting melancholic lyrics suit the book perfectly. 3.5 ⭐
Another day everything is ugly, grey, too late. Too late. You've missed the train. Even if mathematically speaking you have time to do everything, you don't have any time left. Even if nothing is broken, everything is broken.
This is written by Franco-Ontarian Sabrina who is working gig economy jobs, saving up to visit her gender fluid love interest Jess living at a squatter commune in Oakland California, trying to battle ennui and inertia. She describes the contempt and indignity faced when accessing unemployment benefits at the Emploi-Quebec office.
The friends worry about paying rent, they have room-mates, they drink, smoke, sing call-and-response songs, denounce parents for being bourgeois. I liked the glimpses into millenial Québécois culture. They battle mental health illness, domestic abuse, parental neglect. Some are doing graduate studies, others are trying to figure out the direction and meaning of their lives.
I found it difficult to pierce together a complete story from the vignettes but maybe that's the point. These messy complicated lives continue, the characters struggle on as best as they can. The book ends very abruptly, mid-sentence and I wondered if I had incorrectly downloaded the elibrary book but decided it must be for artistic effect. After reading, I did search for Basho's Orphan's Lament to listen to and its haunting melancholic lyrics suit the book perfectly. 3.5 ⭐
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Domestic abuse
Minor: Suicide
marywahlmeierbracciano's review
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
In this episodic, character-driven novel set in 2010s Canada and California, three friends come of age, inevitably drifting apart and back together again. Céline, Julie, and Sabrina want to live in a different world. Readers get to know them through gritty, complex vignettes, hazy with cigarette smoke. When Vincent, a friend in their circle, dies by suicide at an old gathering place, something changes. The friends burn out on their dreams, navigating family conflicts and romantic relationships, shared living arrangements, employment, and education in lonely places, whether filled with or devoid of people, although kinship remains a light in the dark. Stéfanie Clermont is a French-Canadian Sally Rooney.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Grief, Suicide, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Alcoholism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Drug use, and Rape
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