Reviews

What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez

mosickey's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No

3.5

ela_h's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

robertavaznyte's review

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5.0

If I had to summarize this book in just one sentence it would be this:
Putting extra in the ordinary.

Extra in the writing. Poetic, lyrical. Extra in respecting your readers. Trusting them to read between the lines.
And an ordinary story becomes extraordinary.

The whole book felt as an observation of human kind to me. Unusually gentle observation. Just taking in messy life and messy people as they are.

simonewesterink's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

raclark13's review

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

The style of writing was very unique. At first it was jarring and I struggled to follow but by the end I was comforted by the casual, human natured-ness of the prose. The story was a bit too disjointed at times. Abrupt ending.

linda3's review

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

mschuler's review

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reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

sammies_shelf's review

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reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No

3.0

dljmsw's review against another edition

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4.0

More like 3.5 stars. This is a strange book. It reads more like a memoir than a work of fiction. It was interesting enough and kept my attention.

hellasmella's review

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective slow-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

5.0

First of all, this book is genius.  I’ve liked other Nunez work and this really impressed me.

My mom died a long, slow, painful  cancer death when I was 25. I was a new mother and wrapped up in my own issues, so I really wasn’t emotionally or physically present for most of her long decline.    I won’t use the word regret but let’s just say if my mom were sick now and I was so many years older and wise I would do some things differently.   All that to say, this account was an absolute gift to me and let me live out an alternate ending. I’m very grateful.