You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really good writing, horrifically boring. Reading this was like pulling teeth at times, but also the author is clearly very wise and maybe it was just a bit too intellectual for me I’m not sure. Anyway, I’m torn between giving it a 1 and a 5 so I will settle for a 3.
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I was enthralled by this but I am also certain that some of the larger themes and ideas went right over my head
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Good but maybe a little to difficult
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A deeply emotional read, with many sections that left me floored. While wordy at times, this novel has conveyed a level of emotions which feel intensely personal. If nothing else Second Place is unique.
“If you have always been criticised, from before you can remember, it becomes more or less impossible to locate yourself in the time or space before the criticism was made: to believe, in other words, that you yourself exist. The criticism is more real than you are: it seems, in fact, to have created you. I believe a lot of people walk around with this problem in their heads, and it leads to all kinds of trouble—in my case, it led to my body and my mind getting divorced from each other right at the start, when I was only a few years old.”
“If you have always been criticised, from before you can remember, it becomes more or less impossible to locate yourself in the time or space before the criticism was made: to believe, in other words, that you yourself exist. The criticism is more real than you are: it seems, in fact, to have created you. I believe a lot of people walk around with this problem in their heads, and it leads to all kinds of trouble—in my case, it led to my body and my mind getting divorced from each other right at the start, when I was only a few years old.”
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content
The potential for this book starts to come together at the end. But for much of this book I thought I was going to give it a two-star rating. I'm a person who lives in my head a lot but I am nothing compared to the protagonist of Second Place. But towards the end Cusk finally employs the story itself as a way for us to get perspective and in the end Cusk leaves us with interesting thoughts about long-term relationships and the role they play in our lives, especially when the two people in the relationship are so different from each other.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes