Reviews

Bottled Goods by Sophie van Llewyn

carmenx9's review

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5.0

A dark and lovely, almost magical realist tale of survival - it was very hard to put down!

kleonard's review against another edition

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5.0

An elegant kaleidoscope of episodes from different points of view that tell the story of a Romanian woman and her family, their power in society and lack thereof, her fears and anxieties, and her eventual escape to the West. Minimalist, magical realist, and a masterpiece of storytelling.

shimauchiha's review against another edition

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4.0

Read this for:
- Romanian communism.
- A Novella made up of short stories.
- Magical realism, and Romanian folklore.
- Unusual methods to solve your issues with your mother.
- [b:In the Dream House|43317482|In the Dream House|Carmen Maria Machado|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547869259l/43317482._SX50_.jpg|65787792] vibes.

Do not read this if:
- You are triggered by
Spoiler rape, mentions of torture.

- You prefer traditional structures (with no open endings).
- You dislike time-jumps.

My thoughts: 4.5 stars
I loved this little mish-mash of short stories and vignettes. While the stories are all about a Romanian woman's life during communism and make up a cohesive narrative together, they are written in slightly different styles, switching between first and third-person points of view, and between different genres.
I loved it. I don't think I've ever read a book set in Romania, and I loved how it was slightly fragmented while remaining very cohesive. If I could change just one thing about it, I would make the magical realism element stronger and bring it out more at the start of the novel, instead of relatively close to the end. Also, I could have read so much more about Romanian folklore. But "I wish there was more of it" is not really a criticism, is it?

nanc_282's review

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

4.0


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shannonmatalone's review against another edition

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

5.0

rapgamenancyreagan's review

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

3.75

erboe501's review against another edition

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5.0

I devoured this short novel. It veers into magical realism with shrinking people and leans into some Romanian traditions/folklore. This is one of those brutal pieces of speculative fiction where many things are left unexplained, the characters are a little unsavory, and you as the reader are just along for the weird but engaging ride. Van Llewyn's writing really packs a punch, harshly ripping open the unpleasant dynamics in a family, a marriage, and a community that rewards ratting out neighbors.

I'm looking forward to reading more from van Llewyn in the future.

beccawatson's review against another edition

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

3.5

pewterwolf's review

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3.0

Review is Taken from The Pewter Wolf. Novellas was given by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for honest review.

I've fallen into a big of a reading slump. So when the co-author of the Witch's Kiss trilogy, Katharine Corr, said I should try reading a novella, this was one of the titles that caught my eye...

Set in communist Romania in the 1970s, Bottled Goods follows Alina who, after her brother-in-law defects to the West, she and her new husband become people of interest to the secret services. As this strain takes root in their marriage, Alina turns to her aunt for support, not her mother...

The story held my attention, even though am going through a reading funk. I really liked the writing styles, which is the main reason why I kept reading (though I do have faults, which I will talk about later). In Bottled Goods, each chapter's writing style is different from the previous - first person, third person, diary entry, list, first person of one chapter, first person of a second chapter, third person. It always had something happening. Each chapter ended with a cliffhanger of sorts so, of course, I had to keep clicking on my kindle to find out what happened next.

But because am in this reading funk, I did have problems. Problems I would normally get over very quickly, but in this mindset, all I could see were these problems. With Bottled Goods, I do think it's the style of writing, how each chapter changed how it was written. I liked this, but it does take a little while for you to get use to. Plus, when there were two chapters told in first person but from two different chapter and you have no indicator of who it is in the chapter title, it's throws you out a little bit.

Plus, it's magical realism. I love a good magical realism. But with Bottled Goods, the magic element comes quite late in the story, and with the story's blurb hinting that it's there from the start, it got annoying waiting for it to come and, when it did, it was a side step. I do wonder on if the magical element was completely removed from Bottled Goods, if the story would have still worked (barring one element, I think it might have).

I did like this, don't get me wrong, I did. But because of my reading frame-of-mind at the moment, am super nit-picky. Maybe if I reread these in the future, these won't bother me so much, but it was nice to read something not over 300 pages long and yet still packed a punch, which this did.

therookerybookery's review

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dark emotional informative mysterious tense
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5