Reviews

Bug by Giacomo Sartori

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breadandmushrooms's review

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Very original and authentic story. I was incredibly impressed with how this didn't feel like an adult trying to write the point of view of a child, it actually felt like I was reading a story from a child.

savshelfinger's review

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emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

sunfishe's review

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Will resume when I have more interest :)

geeters14's review

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emotional funny inspiring mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

stacialithub's review

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4.0

A pell-mell, strange, & wonderful story.

Told from the viewpoint of a 10-year-old deaf boy who has ADHD (or something similar, it's never specified; he has a lot of trouble in school not only because of his hearing disability but also because he has a very hard time staying still &/or concentrating; plus, he tends to act out aggressively on occasion), this has almost a manic, breathless style of storytelling & a bit of an unreliable narrator feel.

Since the 10-year-old is telling the story, it's never quite clear whether the AI is real or if the AI is really a product of his imagination as he tries to cope with school, his mom being in a coma, a distracted dad, etc.... Is it magical realism, an unreliable narrator, a set of "real" events, or some combo? I think there's enough wiggle room that different readers will come to different conclusions.

The author does a good job of showing some of the challenges the protagonist faces, being deaf in a hearing world, the difference a good aide can be at school vs. a bad one, a teacher who is accommodating (or not), the ennui of hospitals, & more. There's also an intriguing alignment/parallel of the protagonist & "Bug" (the AI) as both feel like "the other" in this strange world we inhabit, not always taken seriously, approached with caution by others, even while there's more to both of them than may be apparent on the surface.

There are some genuinely funny & sweet moments, along with a "life is a crazy ride" mentality. I enjoyed falling into this wild tale headfirst (but the pell-mell feeling of narration from the spinning brain of a 10-year-old's mind might not be a style everyone is going to like).

Kudos to translator Frederika Randall (who passed away in 2020: A Tribute to Frederika Randall, "Translator of the Unsaid") as I think she captured the wonder, fun, charm, & strangeness of this unique story.

jasminenoack's review

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funny mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

djwudi's review

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Unfortunately, this one just did not work for me. The main character is a 10-year-old deaf (and, I believe, possibly autistic) child, and it’s narrated in a first-person, nearly stream-of-consciousness style, which (in-universe) is the child dictating in sign language to a caretaker who translates what he says. In actuality, the book was originally written in Italian, and has been translated to English. So there are multiple levels of abstraction and translation, and I’m at a loss as to how much of the final writing style and choices were the character’s, an artifact of the in-universe translation from sign language, the author’s, an artifact of the real-world translation from Italian, or some combination of all of those. The end result was that I just didn’t enjoy it.