Reviews - Vuggesang | The StoryGraph

Easy and entertaining read. I think the story is fantastic but I found the translation sub par and the writing detracted from the story. Would have loved to read in French.

eliaplt's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

turnpages's review against another edition

5.0

dark reflective sad medium-paced

bvlberri's review against another edition

3.75

Lullaby is a thriller that doesn't unfold like a typical one. There are no twists, no climax and certainly no neat resolution. From the jump, we know the suspect and the crime she committed. And throughout the book, we’re introduced to several other characters who knew the suspect, offering fragments of her story. The author doesn’t linger on these characters long enough to build an emotional connection. Instead, we are given just enough information to form our own judgment about them and to piece together possible reasons why the nanny might have committed the crime.

Essentially, this book is a character study and a social commentary, dissecting the complex psychology of a seemingly perfect nanny while exposing the French nanny culture— the invisibility the nannies face, the unspoken tension between them and the parents, and the class divides. Other themes present in the novel include gender roles and challenges of motherhood and childcare. However, I found the way the theme of xenophobia was handled particularly interesting, despite it playing a minor role in the story. In France, many nannies come from immigrant backgrounds. And in this book, the nanny is white and French, while the mother is a Moroccan immigrant— a deliberate choice by the author to highlight the nanny’s “oddness” among the other immigrant nannies, while also shedding light on the prejudice and discrimination the mother faces in French society. It raises a thought-provoking question on who really holds power here: is it the one who pays or the one whom society favors?

This was an all-around fascinating read. I was drawn to its nuanced critiques of society, and I know I will be thinking of this for a while.

jennreadsallthetime's review against another edition

1.0

I fell for the "Like 'Gone Girl'" reviews.

** SPOILER ALERT **
When blurbs say it's like "Gone Girl," don't you think that means there will be a twist ending? To expect a surprise? Immediately we're told the nanny did it. So I read the book, thinking, nope, it's not the nanny. Why would the author give it away in the first chapter? That would be ridiculous.
Well, turns out, the nanny DID do it.
Now, if there was something really riveting to prove why the nanny did it, maybe this book could be redeemed. But there wasn't.
My fault for buying the hype.

flophillips31's review against another edition

2.0

dark reflective slow-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

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