Reviews

What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez

amachonis's review

emotional 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? No

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer

sharanyasarathy's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

happy_stomach's review

reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

mi_not_chelle's review

emotional reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

lucycast's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed the prose of this novel, each word felt carefully curated. A collection of stories and experiences tied together by the narrator. None of the characters are named, which can be a little confusing at times, but adds to the storytelling. My favorite part was when the cat's story was told. I loved the animal perspective and how it ended happily even though it was a generally sad story. 

This was a short and quick read, although I spent a lot of time with the words on each page. Very reflective and philosophical in a way. Short book packed full with quotes and ideas from all types of writers.

lindseyjones's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

Funny, sad, beautiful, meditative. Stuffed Nunez is the best. 

camerongib's review

4.0

pleasant reading, a mature way with words, intriguing accounts, clever observations and peculiar characters, i will read another nunez.

sam_bizar_wilcox's review

4.0

To describe Sigrid Nunez’s new novel, What Are You Going Through, as anything other than a revelation would be slanderous. Nunez is an author that traffics in thoughts, allowing the reader to seamlessly peer into the mind of her narrator. It is a metaphysical sleight-of-hand, this novel, as it immerses the reader so deeply in her conversations that one forgets this is a fiction. What happens in the book seems as though they cannot be contained within the page. Indeed, the central focus of the novel is not its plot—which revolves around a visit between the narrator and her terminally-ill friend—but the musings that collectively assemble a grappling with death. The work of What Are You Going Through coalesces almost in the form of a Socratic dialogue, interlocutors on opposing sides divining meaning through a series of conversations. The result, however, is not one single definition or meaning of life and death, but an honest account of coping with their effects. It becomes, then, less a work of fiction and more a study of grief and—ambitiously, courageously—humanity itself.

sdossantos's review

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

oh my god this woman can write

willspeer's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.0