Reviews

Four Minutes by Nataliya Deleva

Only show reviews with written explanations

jensen1's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

A quick book with a poignant story - the overwhelming sense of loneliness is both lovely and horrible.

Content Warnings

ramramyum's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

I wish I had elaborate words to explain my feelings about this book, so I will leave this instead:
I cried and it hit home, from the Eastern European culture to the hardships found in those countries, it is nice to be seen, even on a tangential note.

Content Warnings

angelicatheherb's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

morepeachyogurt's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

venusinlove's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

i'd give this book 3.75* mainly because of how messy the storyline was. another reason would be the fact that i couldn't quite understand what did these people do there exactly. @ future me, i hope you get that.

what i mean with the previous is... i get that she was telling different stories in which she was trying to "help" other people, lost people, people without parents, people in poverty... but it fell off from the main story a bit and maybe if it was rearranged in some different way i would have liked it a bit more.

it was quite interesting to read that book to say the least. probably because it felt like a v contemporary book that's based in my poor little country and it felt a bit unreal. so cool but also... do people see us like that? people stuck in poverty, people leaving their children because they can't take care of them and then the authorities won't give you the right to look after a child, no matter how well off you are, unless you are not heterosexual and a homeowner... that freaking sucks... it makes me hate this country even more and i hate living here.

in some ways this book made me realize how people like me, queer people, would never get the chance to adopt unless they do some illegal shit. unless they push some money into someone else's hand. i know more queer people being competent enough to take care of a child rather than your plain heterosexual man with the beer belly who r*pes his wife and drinks himself into oblivion every night. and they are worrying about the child of a perfectly normal human being rather than that piece of shit. i am taking this book way too personally because it could one day be my future.

reading this, the life of the main character, i feel lucky that i have a family that loves me, there's a roof on top of my head and my safety is not being threatened every day. but there are so many people who cannot experience this feeling of safety even in their own space, their own body because they live in somebody else's world.

a great eye-opening book for the life of many people in Bulgaria. my most favourite thing was roaming the places, the streets and the shops.