Reviews with content warning for Death - Fato e Furia

Reading this book felt like I was in a big room full of people with special headphones on where I could only pick up bits of a conversation at a time. I was being slowly led through by someone I didn’t quite know and didn’t quite understand. It felt like I meandered so dreamily past, but was given just enough time to understand each passing person’s deepest fears and thoughts. After time, quite a long time, being led through the room, my guide took me to the top of the stairs and I looked over the balcony and was so shocked to see how everything and everybody we had passed came together so vibrantly and horrifically and beautifully.

I appreciate this book for how much it made me contemplate human existence.

It was very long though.

Content Warnings

ruthie_the_librarian's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny sad slow-paced

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

1.0

At the point where I felt like I had been reading forever, I saw I still had about 85% (9 hours...) left to read and I very nearly lost the will to go on. But it's for my book group, and I don't like to dnf because then I can't talk about it, but oh my goodness it was hard going! The first part of the book is all Lotto, which is perhaps why it was so trying to read. I was torn between wanting to know what would happen to him, and thinking he was a dick. I did feel the pace picked up in the 2nd half with Mathilde, but perhaps that was just because I could sense the end was in sight. It is too, too long. There is too, too much bad sex. And nobody was very nice at all. I was intrigued, at least, with what on earth we were going to learn about Mathilde when it came to her part of the story. And I did race through the last part because of it. But ultimately, I'm not sure it was worth it, and it really bothered me that

although Mathilde has been editing and tweaking Lotto's work for years, managing his money, managing him, her own writing ends up being a failure.
What was the message here? That she was only useful with regards to his career? That annoyed me.

Content Warnings

lindsey_bear's review against another edition

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challenging emotional slow-paced

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

2.0

This was a tough one—I loved Groff’s writing style, but I just found Fates and Furies too slow. I wasn’t very hooked by Lotto’s story in the “Fates” section. I found the background of his career development too dragged out and uninterested/not essential to the plot. Based on the reviews, I tried to stick in it until the end, but by the thick of the “Furies” section, I was a bit over the character development and just wanted to know what happened. I’d be interested in checking out more of Groff’s writing, but this one just wasn’t it for me. I feel if I was able to connect with the characters a bit more, maybe it would have been more engaging.

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jhging's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

Compelling. This kept me hooked - not just to see what happened next in their lives, but to understand the characters both as individuals and a couple. Really well-written.

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jennifermackaman's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

4.5

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valjeanval's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

I wouldn’t pick up a book that basically said “it’s about a marriage” except that Lauren Groff wrote it. What an incredible, complex, brilliant exploration of a marriage.

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tyyne's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad tense 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

2.0

Sadly I really didn’t enjoy this. The characters were all very unlikeable and the writing style was not enjoyable for me.

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