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ssolov's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Terminal illness, Excrement, Dementia, and Grief
lojwinreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I’m so glad I took the leap and read this. I feel like this is such a vital piece of feminist literature and really made me think about myself. I think this book literally changed my life and how I view myself and other women. It’s heartbreaking, heartwarming, articulate, thoughtful, and will make you look at communities of women different.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
serena_hien's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide attempt
liesthemoontells's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This was a beautiful, haunting, moving book. I had put off reading it as the themes sounded incredibly heavy, but after a friend's recommendation and assurance that it was more of a reflective read I decided to tackle it.
While the book's themes are complex, heavy, and at times very dark, Harpman's treatment of the subject matter is more meditative and philosophical than shock provoking. There are many ruminations on what it means to be human, on navigating love, gender, and human connection when you have been given no reference point.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who needs resolutions to their mystery fiction but if you are looking for a powerful and ambivalent piece of speculative literature I could not recommend it more.
While the book's themes are complex, heavy, and at times very dark, Harpman's treatment of the subject matter is more meditative and philosophical than shock provoking. There are many ruminations on what it means to be human, on navigating love, gender, and human connection when you have been given no reference point.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who needs resolutions to their mystery fiction but if you are looking for a powerful and ambivalent piece of speculative literature I could not recommend it more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Minor: Violence and War
professor_garlic's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A really wonderful book that has you questioning things as the narrator does. The message might be hard to grasp at times but it’s a reflection of humanity and hope throughout questionable and alien circumstances.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
christcore's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
The most beautiful book I have read in a long time. On its surface, it's a satisfactory adventure story about one girl imprisoned among 39 adult women, all being held captive without understanding why. It's written from the girl's perspective when she is an old woman as her last testament before she dies, left to be found by a wanderer -- if any still live. The girl has no knowledge of life outside of the underground bunker, so she asks the others to recall what painful fragments they carry in their memories.
You won't get the answers you want from this book.The catastrophe that led to the bunker situation is never explained. How power is supplied to all of these bunkers is never explained. Why these women were set free, what the men did or didn't know about the situation... it's all left a mystery.
Underneath the surface is a moving text that explores femininity, girlhood, emotion, love, grief, resilience, and so much more. I can't wait to read this book again.
You won't get the answers you want from this book.
Underneath the surface is a moving text that explores femininity, girlhood, emotion, love, grief, resilience, and so much more. I can't wait to read this book again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual content and Suicide
bubblybelle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.75
this book left me with so many questions and an existential crisis
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Minor: Miscarriage and Dementia
leila_scola's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
now_booking's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This was an interesting and unique exploration of what it might be like to come of age in a world completely without the trappings of culture, history, familial and social baggage and of course, men. Yet, despite the title, this is not a criticism or analysis of gender norms or an argument against the patriarchy. Indeed, my reading of “(not having ever) known men” is that the the nameless heroine may not only be referring to the male race even though that’s literally how she frames it and thinks about it, but figuratively (or synecdochically), in a broader sense, she refers to not ever having known “man” or the human race and all its trappings. For the heroine, raised in captivity, in a planet that might be earth or not at a time that might be contemporary or futuristic, conditioned to avoid human touch, raised without a name, without a fixation on identity or appearance or privacy, without understanding love or connection, no concept of time or seasons or of life or death, or art or history or the scope of the world or the universe, she has to find her own meaning to human existence, craft her own understanding of community and society and the vagaries of human behaviour, of time and body, sexuality and society.
In this coming of age tale, the heroine who spends much of her life isolated recounts her story as she remembers it perhaps pursuing the natural human instinct to be acknowledged to have existed at some time in history. Because of the unique way the heroine was raised (or raised herself), she’s not given to much emotion, so this feels like a very detached recounting of what is simultaneously and extraordinary and mundane existence. It’s not at all an exciting book but it is one that keeps you going even if just in the hopes that you’ll learn along with the protagonist where she and the 39 other women were kidnapped and taken to and for what reason.
I overall thought this was really unique and different and I’m glad I read it but I’m not passionate about it. I thought there was very little “so what” about having never known men. Towards the end, the author tried to make some inferences that are beautifully written but they never quite landed in elaborating on “the point”. This felt somewhat experimental for experiments sake and I wish the author had gone a little further with this. I recommend reading this if you’re looking for something quiet and uneventful, thought-provoking, and slightly disturbing (and sad).
In this coming of age tale, the heroine who spends much of her life isolated recounts her story as she remembers it perhaps pursuing the natural human instinct to be acknowledged to have existed at some time in history. Because of the unique way the heroine was raised (or raised herself), she’s not given to much emotion, so this feels like a very detached recounting of what is simultaneously and extraordinary and mundane existence. It’s not at all an exciting book but it is one that keeps you going even if just in the hopes that you’ll learn along with the protagonist where she and the 39 other women were kidnapped and taken to and for what reason.
I overall thought this was really unique and different and I’m glad I read it but I’m not passionate about it. I thought there was very little “so what” about having never known men. Towards the end, the author tried to make some inferences that are beautifully written but they never quite landed in elaborating on “the point”. This felt somewhat experimental for experiments sake and I wish the author had gone a little further with this. I recommend reading this if you’re looking for something quiet and uneventful, thought-provoking, and slightly disturbing (and sad).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Toxic relationship
poirot's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Grief
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Alcohol