Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Storia del nuovo cognome

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Storia del nuovo cognome by Elena Ferrante

16 reviews

sineadlgull's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.5

Great book with strong character/relationship development. Characters and majorly flawed yet interesting and strangely loveable.

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jenni28's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I adored this book.

I received the first of the Neapolitan Quarter as a Christmas gift and devoured it, but the second instalment I loved even more. I read this in almost one sitting!

This book made me feel a lot of things…

I went through a bit of a rollercoaster with almost every single character, on one page feeling compassion and empathy for their struggles, by the next feeling utterly enraged by their pettiness and self-centred attitudes.

With Lina, for example, you can’t help but feeling a heartfelt sense of pity given how quickly her young marriage descends into a prison of abuse and unhappiness. At the same time, there were parts of this book where her treatment of Elena really disgusted me, and I wanted to scream at Elena to stop letting her friend walk all over her. But in this novel, as in life, nothing is simple - and that really comes through in the realism of Ferrantes writing.

Every character is so well-written, so believable and so enraging at times that you can’t help but be absorbed by their lives, by a story where not very much happens in terms of plot, but where I was totally glued to the page.

This book often gets sold as a book about female friendship, and I suppose that is true at the most basic level. But the parts that I found most compelling dealt with 1960s Italy, especially through the prism of class. Without being didactic, I think it was a beautiful exploration of how culture, family, friendships, social relations, communities and art are all affected by our class and our upbringing.

Despite her great success by going to University and writing a novel, Elena is almost constantly frozen by what I can only describe as “imposter” syndrome. She had a constant feeling of self doubt, never feeling good enough, that always seems to harken back to her competitive relationship with Lina or her embarrassment and shame about her own background. Lina, on the other hand, despite gaining wealth and success, feels trapped in a loveless and abusive marriage due to her social conditions. She is eventually able to break free, but not without huge consequences that affect her life and that of her whole family and community.

I was totally immersed in this book. Can’t wait to read the third instalment.

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serena_hien's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

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risemini's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

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kennedylizrose's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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nadiaherondale's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this one quite more than the first one, maybe It's cause I'm already invested on the characters or maybe it was the pacing. Once again we submerged ourselves into Lenu and Lina's world of violence, poverty and money (a central theme on this one specially), friendship and the hardships of being female. Nino Sarratore is exactly the kind of man I hate (pretends to be the good stuff and it's actually the worst of all) and the ending gave me chills, just when I thought Lenu was out of reach. At some points of the story I hated Lina with passion, I think it's just what the author intended since it's supposed to be Lenu's narrative and her feelings strongly bleed into the writing, and I actually loved that. All in all I'm excited to keep the series and see what we get ourselves into on the next one, now that both Elena and Lila seem to have escaped the neighborhood up to some point.

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