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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
pinkanddying's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
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
4.0
this books shines because of its unlikable but equally relatable, unreliable narrator
+ It is set in Berlin (obv)
+ It is set in Berlin (obv)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Eating disorder
Moderate: Stalking
bxaisabxlla's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
kleine_elster_'s review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Eating disorder
lbhreads's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Stalking and Panic attacks/disorders
writtenontheflyleaves's review
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Berlin by Bea Setton 🚲 ad/ gifted products featured
🌟🌟🌟🌟
This book was kindly gifted to me by @doubledayukbooks in advance of their showcase later today!
🪟 The plot: Daphne arrives in Berlin running from her regrets in her life in London. She has no responsibilities except to learn German and to start over, but when her window is smashed in the middle of the night it begins an ominous spiral. Can she really create a new life by living in other people's homes and whittling herself down to nothing? Or will her problems catch up to her?
This was a weird read! For most of the novel I didn't really have a sense of where it was going, or if any plot would emerge other than Daphne bouncing around Berlin and having odd, alienating encounters. But also, I didn't really care! Daphne was such a compelling narrator that I would have happily hitchhiked around in her brain even if nothing much of note happened in the novel.
But, things did start to happen. This isn't a plot-driven book by any means, but a real narrative does emerge, and I don't think it's a spoiler to say that most of the action comes from Daphne's own psychology - her evasiveness, her flickering in and out of perspective. You get the sense that the novel is being told from a remove of many years, and Daphne is selective about the moments that she lets her older self intrude on the narrative.
For me, this made it a really effective portrait of being in crisis in your 20s. The dawning comprehension of your broken behaviours; the instinctive urge to keep them up whatever the cost; the growing knowledge that you can't, that starting anew doesn't mean annihilating the old self, it means facing yourself and your past. It's an unflinching look at how paralysing regret can be, told through a narrator who is as funny and insightful as she is frustrating and enigmatic.
🪟 Read it when it's out on 7th July if you like a good unreliable narrator, or are feeling terrified of the future and want that fear reflected back to you.
🚫 Avoid it if you are avoiding content about eating disorders as this features heavily throughout the book. Also if you want a more plotty or optimistic read.
🌟🌟🌟🌟
This book was kindly gifted to me by @doubledayukbooks in advance of their showcase later today!
🪟 The plot: Daphne arrives in Berlin running from her regrets in her life in London. She has no responsibilities except to learn German and to start over, but when her window is smashed in the middle of the night it begins an ominous spiral. Can she really create a new life by living in other people's homes and whittling herself down to nothing? Or will her problems catch up to her?
This was a weird read! For most of the novel I didn't really have a sense of where it was going, or if any plot would emerge other than Daphne bouncing around Berlin and having odd, alienating encounters. But also, I didn't really care! Daphne was such a compelling narrator that I would have happily hitchhiked around in her brain even if nothing much of note happened in the novel.
But, things did start to happen. This isn't a plot-driven book by any means, but a real narrative does emerge, and I don't think it's a spoiler to say that most of the action comes from Daphne's own psychology - her evasiveness, her flickering in and out of perspective. You get the sense that the novel is being told from a remove of many years, and Daphne is selective about the moments that she lets her older self intrude on the narrative.
For me, this made it a really effective portrait of being in crisis in your 20s. The dawning comprehension of your broken behaviours; the instinctive urge to keep them up whatever the cost; the growing knowledge that you can't, that starting anew doesn't mean annihilating the old self, it means facing yourself and your past. It's an unflinching look at how paralysing regret can be, told through a narrator who is as funny and insightful as she is frustrating and enigmatic.
🪟 Read it when it's out on 7th July if you like a good unreliable narrator, or are feeling terrified of the future and want that fear reflected back to you.
🚫 Avoid it if you are avoiding content about eating disorders as this features heavily throughout the book. Also if you want a more plotty or optimistic read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
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