Reviews

This is so brutal and impressive. It isn’t so much a book to enjoy as it is to admire. This stream-of-consciousness of the unnamed narrator is abortive and wandering (it puts me in mind a little of the final episode of ‘Ulysses’, albeit even more fractured), beginning with the childish mind grappling with childhood trauma and abuse that grows into the self-destruction and ongoing tragedy of her early adulthood.

The writing is really savage but also beautiful in places, such as:

Hours and hours. Here we are. Sea wind slit breath. Salting in my mouth. That’s a sharp sharp air. Give you ice in the eyes. Sea pitch pulling itself over and back. Greenish blacky. Drag off groaning rocks. I close my door. Lock it tight.

Or:

Home. Back there. Trains passing like teeth through my head.

Overall a really unpleasant, visceral, hypnotic read, exploring victimhood, trauma (particularly abuse by those who should protect us and repression of Irish girlhood under religion), and the enduring purity of a girl’s great love for her brother.

smriii's review against another edition

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dark sad fast-paced

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

4.0

A girl is a half-formed thing is hard to read style-wise and painful to read content-wise. But it is a book that, if you let it, reaches deep into your core and makes you understand the lives of others in a way that only the best literature can. I’m so very glad I read it.

littlemsjulia's review against another edition

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3.0

lovely prose but i think i finally found a book that is too upsetting, even for me...

chlooee's review against another edition

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4.0

such a harrowing read. the writing style took a while to adjust in regards to reading it, but it devastatingly sucks you in. do read the trigger warnings beforehand.

yelroht's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

sophiemadgwick's review against another edition

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2.0

This is a heartbreaking story but the writing style makes it almost unreadable. I struggled to finish it.

charliemeal's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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