Reviews

Nine Rabbits by Виргиния Захариева, Angela Rodel, Virginia Zaharieva

laurjor's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.25

crystalbristol's review against another edition

2.0

This was a Goodreads: First Reads win! I really loved the beginning, but this book went downhill quickly for me. This book begins in Bulgaria with the abusive childhood of Manda. This section of the book was captivating and helped me develop compassion for Manda...and then the book abruptly jumps to Manda in adulthood, philosophically and crudely rambling, traveling to countries in choppy, unrelated narratives. After the section about her childhood, this novel lacks plot. Manda's adult narratives are filled with self-doubt and seldom connect to the accounts of her childhood at the beginning of this book. At the end, there is little growth or change in Manda, just the same self-doubt disguised through meditation. I ended up hating her. Since I won this book, I really wanted to love it, but found it disappointing.

sve100's review against another edition

2.0

The book starts nice and turns into a midnight monster...

mary_yankulova's review against another edition

2.0

Първата част ми беше безумно интересна, любопитна и вълнуваща. Втората обаче ме разочарова жестоко. Никаква връзка между двете. Едвам я дочетох и в крайна сметка ми остана горчивият вкус.

emilyinherhead's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Writing has a point if you say something, if you tell some story, an extraordinary one, if possible. But in the usual course of things, life is not extraordinary. It simply flows by like a river, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes reaching some bottleneck that it passes through with a roar, rushing through some rapids. What is the important part? The river is important. What about the banks? They are important, too. And the rocks, the bed? They are as well. So that's how I'll write. About all of that.

Nine Rabbits takes the form of two parts: Manda as a young girl being raised by her grandmother, who is unpredictable and sometimes abusive, and Manda as a grown woman working as a writer and artist, traveling and observing and musing about what her life is for. I was captured by the opening chapters, a little lost in the first bit of part 2, and then drawn back in by the end.

Early on we get an entire chapter about potatoes—potatoes!—complete, as are other sections of the book, with recipes. I definitely made note of a few I wanted to try.

The way Zaharieva writes Manda is very personal, almost like memoir. I had to check a few times to make sure that yes, this book is fiction. Manda feels real and relatable, even if she occasionally meanders into philosophical places that might lose some readers. Her words about creativity, purpose, and womanhood all really spoke to me.

She no longer cares who ate what when, where he is, what he's doing, if they're OK, did she give him all the right coping strategies, did she give enough, whether she made a mistake, and so on. She's flying away into the unbearable lightness of being.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Sexual assault

mitrusheva's review against another edition

4.0

Не ми е лесно да опиша впечатленията си от книгата. Объркани са. Но пък рейтингът подсказва, че книгата ми хареса. Четири звездички давам на книги, към които бих се върнала и бих прочела отново. Важен критерий в личната ми класация.
Първата част ме увлече. Хареса ми. Първите разкази от втората част обаче ме стреснаха. Буквално. Помислих си - какъв е този ужас. Оставих книгата. След ден-два реших все пак да й дам отново шанс. Започнах да чета втората част напосоки - на който разказ отворя. И книгата пак ме изненада. Прочетох всичко. Тази втора част не е толкова увлекателна, не е толкова лесно четима, но пък е истинска, искрена, дълбока. И интересна, и предизвикваща размисъл за някакви твои си работи. Не че отново не попадах на моменти, които не разбирах. Или пък ми се струваха твърде маниерни, отвлечени, значещи нещо само за авторката. Но като цяло книгата наистина ми хареса.

spoerk's review against another edition

5.0

Ok. Now I can post the link to my review

http://pop-break.com/2014/04/09/book-review-nine-rabbits/


tl;dr

OMG THIS BOOK IS AWESOMES YOU NEEDS TO READ ITS NOWS

qqjj's review

3.0

The book seems to be semi-autobiographical and is organized into short, (mostly) chronological vignettes. You never really know how much time has past between vignettes or which story threads will return when. I liked this book, especially the first part of the character as a child. The latter part of the book explored more of the existential crises, writer's block, and other mental health issues. I enjoyed this part less. Many interesting and troubling relationships with her family members as well as daily life in Communist (and post-Communist) Bulgaria are explored. Throughout, cooking and recipes relating to the memories and experiences play an integral, but are written in a very casual way, as if reading a smudged recipe card that has been passed down. I loved this touch, because it really allowed you to imagine the setting through traditional Bulgarian food (and I think you could even cook the recipes if you wanted).