Reviews

The story of a friendship, one marked by competition and envy. Perhaps truthful but disturbing. It took me awhile to get into the flow of this novel. While Ferrante's writing has been widely praised, for me it may have been slightly lost in the translation.

kshimer's review against another edition

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3.0

Given the reviews, I expected to like this book much more than I did. The biggest problem I had with it was the number of characters. I couldn't keep them straight and in the end decided they were merely a backdrop for the two main characters. The friendship between the girls was developed beautifully with all the complexity of real friendships between women. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I knew anything about that period of time in Italy. The social and cultural constructs clearly played an important part in the story.

This was the first in a trilogy and I don't think I'll bother reading others.

ahm17's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-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

easytocrash's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-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

4.5

alkav's review against another edition

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challenging 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? Yes

2.0

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