2.37k reviews for:

Hot Milk

Deborah Levy

3.56 AVERAGE

fabulousdave's review

5.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

martinahuzell's review against another edition

4.5

emotional reflective medium-paced

katiehobbs01's review

4.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

anishachana's review

4.75

reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

ilovecupsoftea's review

4.25

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

caitlynmeg's review

3.5

reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

leighland's review against another edition

3.0

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

jminshaw's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

nicib's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

aliebb's review

5.0

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so strange and hypnotizing. hot milk’s dreaminess unsettles you while keeping you unassuaged and going back for more. set in an idyllic locale, the book seethes and brims with symbolism and recurrent imagery of jellyfish, heat, snakes and a chained dog. its dialogues aren’t natural; they’re almost uncanny, even more so considering their strangeness goes undiscussed throughout the book. this adds to the reverie aspect of the book as it mirrors the sort of unequivocal credibility dreams hold in the moment, where all bizarre behaviors go unquestioned.

it is hard to pinpoint or explain what hot milk is about. i think its obsession is with freedom, which seems to be what the book couldn’t help but come back to. still, desire is also central to it (the idea of being stung into desire! ugh! just so good!), and its presence kept on warping your ways of interpreting things. i loved the themes of femininity, motherhood, memory, heritage, language, origin, desperation and responsibility.

overall, hot milk is such an incredible take on form: what shape a book can take, where it can go. it is haunting, dark, and it is brilliant. books like these make me adore literary fiction even more than i thought i could.