Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - The Friend

Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

12 reviews

amandam71's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

A deeply sad love letter to the relationship between people and animals, as well as the literature and other media used to portray it.

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brinnavirginia's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

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oh_renard_lit's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

Some pleasant reflections on the litterary trad industry and the role of an author, on the misogyny in the litterary world and of course on mourning and the impact of a suicidal act.
However, I have to admit that appart from the moments talking about those interesting themes, I didn't get invested in the novel. The narrative choice of following the main character's trail of thoughts only make the reader get lost or bored.

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reshusky's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

I think the subjects could have been handled better. Felt less like it was focusing on grief, and more on complaining about new authors/students. The bits about the dog and grief were good, the book feels intimate but it also felt like a complaint more than a novel.

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kaitidid's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Not a classic dog book. More about grieving a flawed individual, and about writing itself. If you’re looking for “Marley and Me”, this isn’t it. But what it is is strange and wonderful.

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icarusandthesun's review against another edition

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funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

charming—i'm pleasantly surprised! i impulse-bought this book even though the synopsis didn't particularly speak to me, and i'm honestly really glad i did.

- there was lots of talk about books and the act of writing and writing as a form of art (a given since both main characters are writers), which i, as a writer myself, throughly enjoyed, but i can definitely see how that's not a relatable topic for everyone.

- the book's quite funny at times, and what i found especially entertaining was the upbeat writing style constantly being paired with incredibly grave topics.

- the characters weren't lovable at all imo (except for the dog, ofc), but rather just plain interesting to observe.

- the feminist commentary (if you can call it that?) was confusing as hell. like it was sort of feminist but then some lines weren't at all—quite the opposite. idk, it was confusing.

- the plot... was basically non-existent. no plot, just vibes is all. i guess there was a plot twist, but that one was just really unnecessary. it wasn't impactful at all, because it didn't actually change anything. it wasn't some sort of great revelation that would make the reader feel betrayed, it didn't make the reader feel anything, really.

another point of criticism i have is that most of the book's depth comes from quoting other authors. the narrator references other authors and works like every other page and i found that most of the lines i underlined/annotated were just said quotes. so i'm wondering a little bit—how much did nunez actually add to the depth and grade of profundity of her own book?

something i also want to mention, even though a few other reviews have already done so, is that the book doesn't live up to its synopsis... so if you expect the things in the synopsis it's invariably going to be a little underwhelming, if not disappointing.

but i personally really enjoyed it nevertheless—perhaps even *because* it was so different from what i had expected (since, as i've already said, the synopsis didn't really speak to me anyway.)

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