You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
I’ve been reading a lot of goodreads reviews on this book and I can see why the people who didn’t like this book had that opinion. It was somewhat slow at parts and had a very particular niche (tumultuous female friendship). It’s always so funny to me when people say a fiction book isn’t “believable” as if it’s not just a story!
I also read this review: https://coffee-time-reviews.com/2024/02/18/the-book-of-goose-redefines-female-friendship/ and while it has some good points, I think some of my favorite things about this book were misinterpreted.
The story follows two adolescent girls in post-WW2 French countryside as they write a book, become famous, and have their friendship interrupted by adults who think they know what’s best for them. The author of the above review wrote about how the dynamic between the two girls is hardly explored by authors, as “[women] don’t often call each other names to [their] faces. And when [they] do, the other doesn’t usually embrace or accept [their] harshness.” That’s a broad statement to make and I disagree. We hurt each other, especially in our youth. And sometimes, as in the case of Agnès and Fabienne, it bonds us. This is not a story of weird obsession, this is a story of a deep, intimate connection shared between two childhood best friends who find kinship in defying societal norms. This is a love story. The demise of their friendship was not ended by their imagination running dry, it was ended because post-pubescent girls in the 1950s didn’t get to choose their own paths and they certainly didn’t get to shirk marriage and childbearing for female friendship, as that is reserved for childhood.
This book actually kind of broke my heart and it continued breaking as I kept thinking about it. Also, the imagery was fantastic and I liked the goose on the cover.
“The real story was beyond our ability to tell: our girlhood, our friendship, our love - all monumental, all inconsequential. The world has no place for two girl like us…wanting, and unable, to kill each other; wanting, and unable, to save each other.”
I also read this review: https://coffee-time-reviews.com/2024/02/18/the-book-of-goose-redefines-female-friendship/ and while it has some good points, I think some of my favorite things about this book were misinterpreted.
The story follows two adolescent girls in post-WW2 French countryside as they write a book, become famous, and have their friendship interrupted by adults who think they know what’s best for them. The author of the above review wrote about how the dynamic between the two girls is hardly explored by authors, as “[women] don’t often call each other names to [their] faces. And when [they] do, the other doesn’t usually embrace or accept [their] harshness.” That’s a broad statement to make and I disagree. We hurt each other, especially in our youth. And sometimes, as in the case of Agnès and Fabienne, it bonds us. This is not a story of weird obsession, this is a story of a deep, intimate connection shared between two childhood best friends who find kinship in defying societal norms. This is a love story. The demise of their friendship was not ended by their imagination running dry, it was ended because post-pubescent girls in the 1950s didn’t get to choose their own paths and they certainly didn’t get to shirk marriage and childbearing for female friendship, as that is reserved for childhood.
This book actually kind of broke my heart and it continued breaking as I kept thinking about it. Also, the imagery was fantastic and I liked the goose on the cover.
“The real story was beyond our ability to tell: our girlhood, our friendship, our love - all monumental, all inconsequential. The world has no place for two girl like us…wanting, and unable, to kill each other; wanting, and unable, to save each other.”
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
last few chapters made me a tiny bit emosh but kinda boring
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I have had this book on my shelves forever and it was a good read, not at all what I expected.
A beautiful novel about female friendship in the style of Ferrante, with which it can be compared,sure, but still has a unique voice. Beautiful language, evocative, and conjures a whole mood, as if looking at a sepia toned photograph. I love it when a lesser known gem surprises me like this. This was the first book I read by this author, but certainly will not be the last.
The journey this book took me on was relatable and weird. I really liked the main character but I felt like she was unlike other characters I have seen before. She was a follower, through and through. Nothing mattered to her other than her one friendship. She felt a lot of love for her friend and did everything in her power to preserve the relationship and in the end she is powerless to stop them growing apart. The beginning of the book was so interesting and compelling of the literary prodigy who rejects her fate. But the second part of the book when she goes to a boarding school lost me a little bit. Overall, fun and interesting read with a huge focus on childhood friendships and their nuances.
i wish there was just more. agnes and fabiennes relationship is compelling and while the arc with the school is necessary it also just drags on and then ends abruptly. but i still really enjoyed reading this