Reviews with content warning for Blood - Briefly, A Delicious Life

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Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens

28 reviews

lostinthelibrary's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was an unexpected delight. I don't have much interest in novels about artists and bohemians and I was worried this would be one of those. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how readable it was. This was largely due to the narrative device of using a ghost narrator, Blanca. Blanca was a wonderful character in and of herself and the way she could inhabit memories made for great expository story telling. I was drawn along by her interest and enthusiasm and found this very unique and enjoyable as well as beautifully expressed.

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miggyfool's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

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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

4.0

In terms of its premise, this is one of the strangest books I've read this year. However I was amazed how quickly I got used to the idea of a ghost narrator watching fictionalised historical figures. It was both much funnier and much more tragic than I anticipated. The narrative was split between the events of 1838 and Blanca's backstory hundreds of years earlier and Blanca's chapters were often the more engaging parts of this for me. There were a few occasions when I found George quite irritating and I was impatient to find out what happened to Blanca while she was alive. I listened to the audiobook which was a good decision and I felt very attached to Blanca which I wasn't expecting, I think due to the narration.

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danajoy's review against another edition

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4.0

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alexijai98's review

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

I almost wish this book was terrible, if only then I could have something to say about it. Briefly, one of the most boring reads of 2023 for me so far. Stevens’ prose is beautiful, but it felt wasted on a story that said nothing and went nowhere.

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petit_lecteur's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

"When I am at my most feral..."

This novel has to be one of the most beautiful pieces of work I have read to date. Everything from the lyricism when describing the melodies and thoughts of composer Frederic Chopin to the tragedy of life passing by of the 14-year-old protagonist: Blanca.

Briefly, A Delicious Life chronicles the life and death of Blanca, who the reader firsts meets as a "new" ghost in 1473. It isn't until 400 years later that Blanca encounters a group of alluring individuals, yet, it is George Sand who captivates and reignites her love for life in all its messy, beautiful, and tragic glory.

As a reader, I don’t lightly give novels an automatic 5 stars, no matter how interesting or how badly it made me cry. The story/novel has to make me feel that the characters are someone I want to embrace or shout at and Nell Stevens did exactly that. I loved everything about this story!

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