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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
“I wanted to like this. It has elements I usually enjoy—grief, rage, unraveling—but it felt more like I was watching it from the outside than feeling it. Kind of a slog, tbh. I see what it’s doing, I just didn’t feel it unfortunately.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
i thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this book !
‘the days of abandonment’ follows our protagonist Olga, as she struggles to stay afloat after Mario, her husband of fifteen years, leaves her. Olga’s personality is so consumed and intertwined in her husbands that when he leaves her, she feels like a part of her has died aswell. this novel follows the subsequent months after, as she tries to piece together her life while everything seems to be unravelling around her.
i loved the exploration of grief in this book, olga’s grief of her marriage is tumultuous, she feels so overcome with emotion, hardly able to keep up with the demands of everyday life. this book touches on what it’s like to be a woman, to be expected to still be the perfect mother and to be put together, to not show emotion and go insane. but love is known to make us insane, olga’s outbursts are real and emotive, we are exposed to her behaviour and how at times, she is cruel and relentless, but we empathise with her, we as women, feel her pain as our own. i loved the exploration of her muddled brain, her fears of no longer being able to parent, her selfishness. this story is grounded in the mundane, as she discovers that without her husband, the small things she never thought about now seem overbearing. like how now that he’s gone she has to be the one to walk the dog.
i loved the exploration on how she no longer felt desirable, how she sought out affection to prove that she was still beautiful. everything about this felt so real and felt like something i would totally do if someone left me so unravelled. watching olga try so hard to be better, to stay alert, she’s so afraid of being unfit to go on. her relationship with everyone suffers, her children begin to despise the person she has become.
the exploration at the end, as she begins to find a way to navigate her own life, as she realises that the man she previously loved is actually not the guy she ever thought he was. it’s all so heartbreaking. she can never get that time back. AHHH i have so much to say but also nothing to say at all, amazing.
‘the days of abandonment’ follows our protagonist Olga, as she struggles to stay afloat after Mario, her husband of fifteen years, leaves her. Olga’s personality is so consumed and intertwined in her husbands that when he leaves her, she feels like a part of her has died aswell. this novel follows the subsequent months after, as she tries to piece together her life while everything seems to be unravelling around her.
i loved the exploration of grief in this book, olga’s grief of her marriage is tumultuous, she feels so overcome with emotion, hardly able to keep up with the demands of everyday life. this book touches on what it’s like to be a woman, to be expected to still be the perfect mother and to be put together, to not show emotion and go insane. but love is known to make us insane, olga’s outbursts are real and emotive, we are exposed to her behaviour and how at times, she is cruel and relentless, but we empathise with her, we as women, feel her pain as our own. i loved the exploration of her muddled brain, her fears of no longer being able to parent, her selfishness. this story is grounded in the mundane, as she discovers that without her husband, the small things she never thought about now seem overbearing. like how now that he’s gone she has to be the one to walk the dog.
i loved the exploration on how she no longer felt desirable, how she sought out affection to prove that she was still beautiful. everything about this felt so real and felt like something i would totally do if someone left me so unravelled. watching olga try so hard to be better, to stay alert, she’s so afraid of being unfit to go on. her relationship with everyone suffers, her children begin to despise the person she has become.
the exploration at the end, as she begins to find a way to navigate her own life, as she realises that the man she previously loved is actually not the guy she ever thought he was. it’s all so heartbreaking. she can never get that time back. AHHH i have so much to say but also nothing to say at all, amazing.
So lame and the main character just sucks I might take it out again later but rn I’m over it
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of the best books I have read in a long time. Elena Ferrante’s ability to write perfectly on emotions and its developments and influences is something only very few writers do well in my opinion.
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Elena Ferrante is so good at perfectly capturing mundane daily life and womanly anxieties.
Absolutely love the realistic portrayal of rage and losing yourself after something unexplainable and unfair happens. I truly felt every emotion Olga went through and could easily understand why she both thought and did some of the things she did. I highlighted so many lines!
My main takeaways are 1) fuck the husband, and 2) good for her, glad she came out stronger.
Absolutely love the realistic portrayal of rage and losing yourself after something unexplainable and unfair happens. I truly felt every emotion Olga went through and could easily understand why she both thought and did some of the things she did. I highlighted so many lines!
My main takeaways are 1) fuck the husband, and 2) good for her, glad she came out stronger.