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amelialupson's review
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, and Stalking
Minor: Vomit
bellbookcandle's review against another edition
dark
funny
sad
tense
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
4.75
Page-turner with a paranoid, unreliable narrator. A pitch-perfect snapshot of 20-something expat life in Berlin.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Stalking
an_library_stan's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-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
4.0
A modern bell jar (which gets referenced), and a good book to read in your 20s.
I found the main character sympathetic but frustrating. She's generally pretty unable to take care of herself, pushes away communities that could help her, has very low self esteem, self sabotages and is very self centered.
Very much does not romanticize Berlin. I think shows some of the ways it can be challenging to move there, but ultimately also shows the opportunities that abound that Daphne is unwilling or unable to accept and pursue.
I relate to her perfectionism, to her reluctance to take accountability for her circumstances and to her head in the clouds fantasy to experience many lives, her grief at not being able to do so.
I found the main character sympathetic but frustrating. She's generally pretty unable to take care of herself, pushes away communities that could help her, has very low self esteem, self sabotages and is very self centered.
Very much does not romanticize Berlin. I think shows some of the ways it can be challenging to move there, but ultimately also shows the opportunities that abound that Daphne is unwilling or unable to accept and pursue.
I relate to her perfectionism, to her reluctance to take accountability for her circumstances and to her head in the clouds fantasy to experience many lives, her grief at not being able to do so.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Stalking, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Drug use
punkweed's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder
quiettalker's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Stalking
emilyisliterate's review
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
for me, this is an underwhelming entry into the wonderful canon of weird girl fiction.
daphne does all the things that Weird Gross Girls do: she reads sylvia plath and donna tartt and feels like an alien in her own skin and is objectively unlikeable (all great things). however, despite the novel's focus on daphne's inner thoughts, her actual self-dissection is lackluster. she acknowledges her issues but never interrogates them. trust me, i LOVE unhinged women, but daphne was giving highkey pick-me republican girl vibes. unfortunately, i never felt she broke her internal monologue of misogynistic/classist/antisemitic/manipulative thinking, nor did her lack of character development feel like a good story in itself.
don't get me wrong, BERLIN is a page-turner, but i find myself frustrated with it after the fact. nonetheless, i'm interested in what bea setton does next.
daphne does all the things that Weird Gross Girls do: she reads sylvia plath and donna tartt and feels like an alien in her own skin and is objectively unlikeable (all great things). however, despite the novel's focus on daphne's inner thoughts, her actual self-dissection is lackluster. she acknowledges her issues but never interrogates them. trust me, i LOVE unhinged women, but daphne was giving highkey pick-me republican girl vibes. unfortunately, i never felt she broke her internal monologue of misogynistic/classist/antisemitic/manipulative thinking, nor did her lack of character development feel like a good story in itself.
don't get me wrong, BERLIN is a page-turner, but i find myself frustrated with it after the fact. nonetheless, i'm interested in what bea setton does next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
austinxbooks's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder
moodyblobfish's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder
chlomonte's review
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
unlikeable & unreliable narrator who is a privileged french-british philosophy grad living in berlin in her mid-twenties? i was always going to like this book and ended up loving it. i really liked how footnotes and texts were included. read in under 24 hours. other books i read this year will have to live up to berlin! can't wait to read whatever bea setton comes out with next
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Stalking