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nicoleisalwaysreading's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
written in vignettes, spaced in a way that mirrors memories, I suppose. not linked in an obvious way other than the way life strings events along like pearls.
inherently gross, in all the meanings of that word: very obviously wrong, very unpleasant, repulsive. there is life and decay/hurt and joy wound up together tightly in this novel. it’s written poignantly and pays attention to details in a special way.
Ruthie is sharpened by the sharp world around here. a difficult read with explicit and implicit descriptions of sexual abuse - both sinister and destructive to Ruthie and her friends and family. anything about her mother made me extremely uncomfortable, almost to the point of giving up on this book.
inherently gross, in all the meanings of that word: very obviously wrong, very unpleasant, repulsive. there is life and decay/hurt and joy wound up together tightly in this novel. it’s written poignantly and pays attention to details in a special way.
Ruthie is sharpened by the sharp world around here. a difficult read with explicit and implicit descriptions of sexual abuse - both sinister and destructive to Ruthie and her friends and family. anything about her mother made me extremely uncomfortable, almost to the point of giving up on this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Bullying, Classism, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Abortion
lil13's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Excrement, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Child abuse, Medical content, Misogyny, and Rape
zwin's review
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Body shaming, Child abuse, Bullying, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, and Sexual violence
erint's review
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
samhanson's review
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Incest, Grief, Sexual assault, and Miscarriage
mjhalberstadt's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I love love love Sarah Manguso's 300 Arguments as well as much of her poetry, but I find that her writing style applied to storytelling simply does not work in this case. A friend described this to me as an "oblique character study", which feels right to me. So many sentences and symbols took my breath away, but I also felt deeply bored and frustrated, and I wanted her commentary about sexual abuse and class to cut sharper than it did. Then the end contains a series of shocks that don't quite feel earned... I'll read Manguso's next collection of poetry, but remain wary of her fiction. Really disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Classism, Incest, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Vomit, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Child abuse
caoimheisme's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Emotional abuse, and Medical content
constantine2020's review
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½
Genre: General Fiction + Literary Fiction
This is the coming of age story of a girl called Ruth, surrounded by very cold people in a small town (Waitsfield). Whether it is her mother, father, relative, or acquaintances. Everybody feels cold and distant. The story is narrated by her and through her eyes, we live her life, her difficult childhood whether it is in the emotional abuse that she gets or the way her parents are so toxic to each other and to her.
This novel is not written in a typical way. It feels more like a documentary or precisely a memoir and it flows beautifully. The writing style hooked me right from the start. At times I felt very very sorry for the main character and other times I laughed hard due to the mother’s self-centered attitude. Keep in mind that this book stays faithful to its title. You are not going to find any kind of hope or warmth or a change of attitude from those very cold people. This is a story not only about a toxic family but a toxic society. Although the main character never suffers from any physical abuse, the emotional abuse she suffers from is deep. This emotional abuse affects her mental health at a later stage. Physical abuse is present in the story though and it is suffered by other characters.
If you are a fan of stories about dysfunctional families/society you should not miss this one. It has all the solid ingredients be it an honest narrator, a good ending, and never a boring moment. The way it is written makes it a fast easy read. I loved it.
Many thanks to the publisher Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Child abuse
biblizo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I received a copy of this book from Penguin Random House and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ruthie, a young child at the novel’s opening, feels passionately unmoored in Waitsfield. The cold, New England landscape seems completely inhabitable for herself and her family. As the story continues, and Ruth ages into a young woman, it becomes clear that personal, political, and historical narratives of dis-ease convene to make Waitsfield a place to escape, or die trying.
In beginning this book, I think there is the temptation to dismiss it as listless, or even confused. The sense of time and trajectory in this novel is unlike many I’ve encountered: not-quite-linear, but not completely atypical, either.
Our child narrator, Ruthie, rescues this uncertain beginning. As a reader, I usually steer clear of child narrators for the ways in which plots tend to become juvenile, or condescending. This is never the case with Very Cold People. Ruthie is a brilliant and perceptive narrator from the get-go, and her bizarre and brutal observations of her family and those around her make the pages of this story come alive. As she suffers embarrassment, shame, guilt, joy, and sadness, her readers emote alongside her.
The writing is fast paced and snappy. While the subject matter persists in the mind (this is a dark book about abuse and sexual assault, amongst other troubling topics), the syntax of this novel is slim, sleek, and designed to push you forward. The result is a whirlwind, but in a very quiet way. While many small town stories end in chaos, Manguso concludes this novel with barely a whisper. Yet, it lingers, all the same.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
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