Reviews

What We Both Know by Fawn Parker

parismn's review

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dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

kthornette's review

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2.0

Thank you, Netgalley, for the arc!

It’s a no from me. (I did appreciate the Canadian aspects of it).

I was intrigued by the My Dark Vanessa premise, unnerved by most negative reviews on Netgalley and Goodreads. Given those, I wanted to give this book a fair shot but it didn’t have much going for it. I almost DNF’d but ended up just skimming through it.

I was detached from the protagonist with no real clue what was going on because the writing style felt vague and boring. I nearly fell asleep while flipping through the pages. I was about halfway wondering what the plot of the book was because it felt like nothing was happening.

The term “baby,” has never been a favourite of mine in a nickname sense and now I’m truly bothered by it (especially since she uses it for her dad, for some reason. I would’ve picked a different name because it was odd to read). Also, I don’t know if this was intentional or if it was because it was an ARC, but a lot of words were written in alternating case letters like “lAst night i sAw my mother.”

don_delexapro's review

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challenging dark
Some decidedly challenging subject matter between the covers here. Stylistically, I found it densely personal to the narrator and almost tunnel-visioned in its focus. The world of this book is very small and very closely examined (maybe over-examined if you’re psychoanalysing Hillary). I found myself tripping over and getting lost in some of the narrator’s more poetic ruminations (likely as a defence from the psychically difficult content) and engaged by similarly styled passages that were tied to characters outside of the narrator. Not a choreful read but extremely emotionally affecting at times in a way that made me exhale loudly. The central plot necessarily invites audacious and daring themes and I enjoyed following the narrator’s process. Aging parents, legacy, family secrets, loss, grief, death, sexuality, personhood, independence, impotence, persistence. An explosive bundle of nerves. Kind of a bummer (bummer? I barely know her! lol).

trisha_thomas's review

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2.0

A famous dad and a daughter who knows his secrets. She's trying to hide her father's tumble in to memory loss because she wants to write one more story. She wants to reveal who he really is. Because she's suffering a horrible loss, one that she blames him for and wants everyone to know. She wants to burn it all.

However, it's hard to get that from any of the story. It's written almost stream-of-consciousness fashion, which I don't enjoy. The MC is drowning, bouncing from one moment to the next trying to detangle her childhood and trying to understand it all. I could see what the story was trying to tell me but I just couldn't get pulled in or care enough

and the moment with the dog was absolutely awful.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

eososray's review

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2.0

I am a bit torn on this one. The writing was really good but the first person narrator of the story just annoyed me. She was frustrating and maddening.

iemegosh's review

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2.0

no.. like ok that’s it?

bibliotequeish's review

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1.0

This book is hovering between a 1 and a 2.
I did not enjoy this book. I was incredibly bored for the vast majority. At the beginning I was very confused and once I understood what was going on…. I was unimpressed.

I think I actually disliked this book.

bags_and_bookz's review

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2.0

Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Random House Canada and Fawn Parker for free e-ARC in return of my honest review.

Well, this was a DNF for me. I struggled for about 70 pages and trued to get with the story and narration type, and I failed. I could not wrap my head about anything- it was jumping from one thing to another without any connection.

My New Year resolution for 2022 was not to waste my time on boring books, and here I had to follow my heart and dropped it. It was not for me at all. The inly thing that I did enjoy it was that it was set in Toronto. Was it enough to proceed? No, not for me. I give it 2 stars. 1 for writing the book, the second for persuading a publisher to give it a go.

I wish I enjoyed the book and I did not.

asostenuto's review

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

julieh46's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75