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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
The writing is wonderful, the story not as good as the Neapolitan novels. Still, I enjoyed this one. The ending was great.
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
i think what stays with me most is that adulthood isn’t something solid you finally arrive at. it’s messy and full of contradictions, more about realizing how unstable everything is and figuring out how to live inside that uncertainty. you’ll realize that people you admire can turn out to be deeply flawed, and the ones you thought were villains often carry their own wounds and ways of getting by. sometimes lying is simply the only way they know how to survive.
I really liked this book even though I disliked or hated most of the characters. I liked that it was about adolescence and how dramatic it is and how everything feels like the end of the world, especially your appearance. I also liked that it was about finding out that adults in your lives are people, and not the people you thought they were, and about complicated female dynamics. I liked that it dealt with a fractured family and how as always in Elena Ferrante books, Naples is also a character. It wasn't as absolutely perfect as the Neapolitan Quartet, but am I complaining? Absolutely not.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
No
- teenage giovanna lives a cushy life as the only child of two academics, but after her father makes a comment about how she reminds him of her mysterious aunt victoria, giovanna descends to the poorer part of naples to learn more about her father's estranged family
- elena ferrante simply doesn't miss!!
- like how is she so good at getting inside the mind of a teenage girl.....how is it so accurate......i'm much closer to my teen years than ferrante is to hers and yet there are so many things that giovanna says that just send me right back in time and make me remember things i forgot i felt
- so much good stuff about growing up, figuring out where you fit within your family, loss of innocence, how much of our personalities come from our families, etc.
- not quite five stars for me because i thought things kind of got muddled at the end and i wanted something a little more conclusive but still very much enjoyed this
emotional
reflective