Reviews - The Days of Abandonment

2.87k reviews for:

The Days of Abandonment

Elena Ferrante

3.91 AVERAGE

kvngtlvr's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sonyejekwe's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Really good book. Im not an emotional person but this book brought up a lot of what I've been thru in life. Sigh. The ending is so real

Content Warnings

eleanor07's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

ja_aska's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 22%

I put me in a bad mood.

sllewis4's review against another edition

3.5

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

Lots of very beautiful sections and the rage is visceral (which is why we love Ferrante) but I agree with other reviews that it was EXHAUSTING to be in Olga's head and she was a very frustrating character despite wanting to 'be on her side.' Also the quartet just sets expectations so high and this is the same in writing style but doesn't have the plot weight. I know it's short but still

sherbetlizard's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

abandonment does bad freaking things to a person. the entrenchment of coupling. it was hard to empathize with the narrator, i haven’t been through anything like that, but god she was crazy and a bad parent. i liked the symbolism of otto as much as it messed me up.