Reviews

I really enjoyed this book, it was expertly written and quite out there for such an old book. It didn't shy away from any topics and that's brilliant! My only problem was that is was a tad bit too slow paced for me, I felt like I was reading it for ages!

pambo's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

missapples's review against another edition

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5.0

A remarkably sophisticated novel! In many ways it resembles “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt - both novels being about intelligent young people, so if you enjoyed it you should like this one. It‘s about a group of several women, recent graduates of a prestigious American college. Some of them are obviously from a very privileged background (how about having your father let you use his private plane?). Others are solid middle class. Still others were poor but ended up important members of The Group. All of them are smart yet distinctly different young women. Thanks to McCarthy’s detailed observations you get to know almost all of them so well as if they were real. I wonder though what was it like to get such brilliant education knowing all the while your main goal would be to get married and start a family? There’s a poignant moment when two women, new mothers with, talk about “serious“ stuff and one asks another, shocked by her liberal views, if her husband agrees with her.
It was not a fast read but totally absorbing.

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