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charlottereadsthings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
melusinedln's review
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pregnancy
alyssapusateri's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Stalking, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
wannabe_lee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Alcohol
Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
absolute_gemma's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
paralanguage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Blood, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
molly_greenshields's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Blood
Minor: Pregnancy
ptitirodactyle's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, Stalking, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Drug use, Pedophilia, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
withlivjones's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Eugenides’ writing style is very poetic. His descriptions so vividly convey the setting of seventies suburbia, where everyone seems to know everyone else. The Lisbon house itself, and its gradual and inevitable decay that mirrors the decay of the family inside, is also very well described. The use of the first person plural pronoun “we” as the narrator is an interesting and bold choice but is excellently handled and gives a clear sense of the mob mentality of the neighbourhood boys (who later become men). While many of them are named and described as individuals, by using “we” they blend into a sort of homogenous group that parallels how they see the Lisbon sisters.
However, the vivid descriptions take up the bulk of the novel to the extent that the story moves painfully slowly, to the point where I had been waiting for the rest of the suicides to occur for so long that I was almost relieved when they did. It even could have been cut down to an excellent short story, but as it is the prose is rather difficult to get through and there are so many unnecessary tangents where the timeline confusingly switches between past when the girls’ suicides happen and present when the now fully grown men are investigating them. Furthermore, the extent that these poor girls have been put on a pedestal by these men (who barely knew them, merely watched them from afar!) over years (decades, even) of morbid obsession made me deeply uncomfortable. It seems to romanticise their mental illnesses in a rather dangerous way.
I can appreciate the fact that this book has some very well-written prose, but in the end is just wasn’t for me.
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
Minor: Vomit
pastelbanana1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Pregnancy and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism and Racial slurs