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cseibs's review against another edition
1.0
The book's description speaks of a tale of a woman's relationship with her brother. But that couldn't be farther from the truth. The book is nothing about her brother or any relationship with him, but rather about how the narrator has appropriated her brother's disability and exploited it to explain away her life. The brother is the half-formed thing here because the author has given him no life of his own and has not imbued the narrator with any kind of empathetic awareness to view the brother as anything but a source of selfish pain. I hate to judge a book by the unlikability of a character, but the narrator was just so absurdly devoid of any awareness as to be sociopathic. The stream of consciousness style should have allowed for some sympathic thought to cross her addled mind but it didn't. Which just made the style tiresome. Really couldn't finish this one fast enough and be done with it.
skyhigh_ky's review against another edition
Had a really hard time with the writing. I usually like the flow of thought style but this was too nonsensical and really hard to follow the narrative.
yvkhan's review against another edition
4.0
- powerful in a way I haven’t really experienced before
- quite indescribable, really...
- a little disorienting at times (all the time, frankly) but the novel’s,,, visceral storytelling is quite sufficient ? and makes up for it p well
- thematically... confusing. Possibly not all too great thematically. It’s more of a character study than anything ~ perhaps with feminist leanings? The way the narrator struggles with the oppressive treatment of her misogynistic Christian mother and how she’s raped by her uncle? And the way she uses sex to wrestle away control
- overall... I would not recommend this book necessarily for “theme” but more for a more nuanced conception of what a novel can be and the emotional impact it can create just by experimenting with form and such.
- quite graphic and horrific but executed at a reasonably,,, high level eh?
- I was rather intrigued by how the eponymous girl uses the admission of her own sexual desire to give herself agency as a sexual being since she was already being sexualised in the first place... at the same time, the realisation that this wild, sex-crazed lifestyle is rather detrimental and destructive was also an interesting element
- I was a bit put off by the way the narrator felt about her brother towards the end which felt rather unexpected... in the end, he is the only person that has ever truly loved her. However, when has she reciprocated that love?
- the style seems rather childlike at first but eventually evolves... the reader needs to suspend all judgement initially and allow themself to grow accustomed to the style and take it, well, seriously.
- I wish I’d focused more - the novel’s style is very scattered so you might miss certain emotional reactions if you don’t focus very hard (talking about myself here).
- quite indescribable, really...
- a little disorienting at times (all the time, frankly) but the novel’s,,, visceral storytelling is quite sufficient ? and makes up for it p well
- thematically... confusing. Possibly not all too great thematically. It’s more of a character study than anything ~ perhaps with feminist leanings? The way the narrator struggles with the oppressive treatment of her misogynistic Christian mother and how she’s raped by her uncle? And the way she uses sex to wrestle away control
- overall... I would not recommend this book necessarily for “theme” but more for a more nuanced conception of what a novel can be and the emotional impact it can create just by experimenting with form and such.
- quite graphic and horrific but executed at a reasonably,,, high level eh?
- I was rather intrigued by how the eponymous girl uses the admission of her own sexual desire to give herself agency as a sexual being since she was already being sexualised in the first place... at the same time, the realisation that this wild, sex-crazed lifestyle is rather detrimental and destructive was also an interesting element
- I was a bit put off by the way the narrator felt about her brother towards the end which felt rather unexpected... in the end, he is the only person that has ever truly loved her. However, when has she reciprocated that love?
- the style seems rather childlike at first but eventually evolves... the reader needs to suspend all judgement initially and allow themself to grow accustomed to the style and take it, well, seriously.
- I wish I’d focused more - the novel’s style is very scattered so you might miss certain emotional reactions if you don’t focus very hard (talking about myself here).
sodimode's review against another edition
4.0
Eimear McBride is such a brilliant writer. I found the first few chapters very difficult, then you get used to the style. The story is deeply upsetting and fucked up, would advise people to look up trigger warnings as there is some pretty explicit abuse stuff in this.
irisreads1996's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It took me a while to get in to this as the prose is very unusual. I was very surprised to find how visual the writing style makes this book - the sentences are not grammatical and don’t make proper sense, however the images that it was able to conjure up was amazing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
rachel_smrt's review against another edition
2.0
the funky, stream of consciousness, non-punctuated language is super original and immersive, but also kind of a slog after 100 pages or so. there is genuine sadness and heartbreak, particularly when the narrator is young and watching her brother suffer (and again at the end).
jujugal's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0