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elizamac11's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
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
4.0
muzzfuzz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
3.5
I cannot fault Claire Keegan's writing. Her prose is spare and impactful, one of my all-time favorite authors. I felt this collection was weaker compared to her other work and rather unsubtle. My favorite story in this collection, The Long and Painful Death, I originally read in Walk the Blue Fields.
rebeccazacuto's review against another edition
challenging
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Keegan is so good and saying so much with so little.
jessjess125's review against another edition
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
rickyreadsbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This book was a great introduction to Claire Keegan’s writing style, particularly her masterful humanization of characters. She explores the dynamics of gender and the relationship between men and women by taking the reader through the mundane daily life of Irish people. If you are a student of literature, she is a writer you must read!
leforce's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
siria's review against another edition
2.5
It may be ungenerous to describe this short story collection—three brief stories total, two of them reprints, typeset with generous margins—as a cash grab capitalising on Claire Keegan's recent burst of popularity, but let us just say that I'm glad I borrowed this from the library rather than paying for it.
I've enjoyed Keegan's clean prose and deft portraits in the past, but here only the first of the three stories—a study of weaponised incompetence and oblivious self-centredness—came close to working for me. Even that lacked the hint of acid it needed, though. The others fell flat, showing how thin the line can be between "spare" and "simplistic". Should a collection that was apparently almost called Misogyny feel so muted?
I've enjoyed Keegan's clean prose and deft portraits in the past, but here only the first of the three stories—a study of weaponised incompetence and oblivious self-centredness—came close to working for me. Even that lacked the hint of acid it needed, though. The others fell flat, showing how thin the line can be between "spare" and "simplistic". Should a collection that was apparently almost called Misogyny feel so muted?
alliehaddad's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25