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thebristolreader's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
4.25
lieselie's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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? No
4.5
squaresofliving's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The ending wasn't as good as the rest, of the book, but still an enjoyable one!
zukythebookbum's review
wow I really liked this. a claustrophobic literary thriller that explores work, class and violence.
it has an extremely memorable main character and the way her story unfolds as the book goes on was well paced and tense.
if you liked the movie Parasite, you’d probably enjoy this as the themes of domestic work and class differences are very similar.
it has an extremely memorable main character and the way her story unfolds as the book goes on was well paced and tense.
if you liked the movie Parasite, you’d probably enjoy this as the themes of domestic work and class differences are very similar.
mariisopaaa's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
fiendfull's review against another edition
4.0
Clean is a tense novel narrated by a maid in a locked room, telling her side of the sequence of events that left her there after the death of the daughter of the house. Estela moved to Santiago and found a job working for a well-off middle class family, a doctor and his lawyer wife and then their newborn daughter. She describes how over the seven years, things began to go wrong, always alluding and building up to the death of the girl.
This is a book that unfolds with dread, like a nightmare, as Estela narrates what it is like to work as if invisible, unless she does something wrong. As her life is contrasted with that of the family she works for, she argues that this didn't cause resentment, but as death starts to impact them, it becomes hazy as to exactly what is happening. The book leaves as many questions as it answers, trapping Estela and her narrative in a limbo in which the reader can interpret, but not know for sure. One notable thing is how isolated Estela is, even with the backdrop of political change, and how much her story is about her isolation, not just the 'present' of the narrative in which she is locked in a room. In a way, you are locked in with her, forced to see the disgusting side of the family and the work Estela does, and it seems to give her some kind of purpose to be narrating, even though without any kind of response, there's no real sense anyone is actually listening to her.
Clean is ideal for fans of literary thrillers, weaving together class and domestic work in Chile with a memorable character who is an invisible woman, a forty-something maid. It is especially enjoyable to get this kind of narrative instead of the many thrillers centred around the perspective middle class characters and families, and in that way it reminds me of fiction like the film Parasite, using class and wealth disparity as part of the tension in a thriller.
mcalzatet's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.75