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awderrick's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Infidelity, Mental illness, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Child abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Grief, and War
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
I just don’t vibe with Strout’s writing I guess? It’s very stream of consciousness, telling more than showing as if the reader won’t know what’s happening otherwise. It’s also becoming a clear theme that Strout’s characters (dare I say the author herself given the obsession) are fatphobic and body shame other characters often. Based on another reviewer, this theme continues throughout the whole book and I love myself too much to suffer through this 2000s bullshit
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Classism, and Fatphobia
hmuraski27's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I read and enjoyed My Name is Lucy Barton earlier this year, and wanted to keep reading the Amgash books so picked this one up. It's different from the first in the series in that it's told through vignettes from the POV of various people in/on the periphery of Lucy's life (her cousins, her brother, her father's former employer, etc), but I enjoyed it. This storytelling vehicle felt very akin to Olive Kitteridge.
The writing was good (very Strout-y, if you are familiar with her work), the stories themselves were pretty melancholy which is sometimes my jam, and I did appreciate the reading experience. But the rampant fat shaming & fat phobia were a bit much. Almost every chapter made at least one reference to an overweight character in incredibly demeaning, insulting ways. A man is found to have been cheating on his thin wife for a decade with a BIG FAT woman! Can you believe it? Why would a man EVER cheat on his thin wife with a woman of size??? Eww! In one chapter, Strout makes a minimum of 6 or 7 digs against a larger woman in the space of like 5 pages (observing that her watch band was cutting into her fleshy wrist, disgusted description of a strip of flesh between her pants and blouse, that she can't lift her knee up to rest on the couch because she's too large and it reminds the POV character of a wheelchair-bound person he once saw, etc) and it just felt so unnecessary and crude. I found the stereotyping to be boring and predictable (fat characters are bad/disgusting, thin characters are good/attractive basically).
If it hadn't been for the fatphobia, I'd have given this one 4.5 stars, but I'm rounding my 2.5 up to a 3 since I do like Strout's work and the reading experience with this book was enjoyable otherwise.
The writing was good (very Strout-y, if you are familiar with her work), the stories themselves were pretty melancholy which is sometimes my jam, and I did appreciate the reading experience. But the rampant fat shaming & fat phobia were a bit much. Almost every chapter made at least one reference to an overweight character in incredibly demeaning, insulting ways. A man is found to have been cheating on his thin wife for a decade with a BIG FAT woman! Can you believe it? Why would a man EVER cheat on his thin wife with a woman of size??? Eww! In one chapter, Strout makes a minimum of 6 or 7 digs against a larger woman in the space of like 5 pages (observing that her watch band was cutting into her fleshy wrist, disgusted description of a strip of flesh between her pants and blouse, that she can't lift her knee up to rest on the couch because she's too large and it reminds the POV character of a wheelchair-bound person he once saw, etc) and it just felt so unnecessary and crude. I found the stereotyping to be boring and predictable (fat characters are bad/disgusting, thin characters are good/attractive basically).
If it hadn't been for the fatphobia, I'd have given this one 4.5 stars, but I'm rounding my 2.5 up to a 3 since I do like Strout's work and the reading experience with this book was enjoyable otherwise.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Classism
Minor: Incest, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, and Dementia
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