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barbaraalfond's review against another edition
2.0
One star for self-aggrandizement. One star for resilience. Uh-oh! Have I given away the whole book??
anam_kiani's review against another edition
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
After a long time, I found a book that I did not want to put down.
It is a dark and bizarre story that follows three generations of women in a dysfunctional family, narrated by the controlling, narcissistic and manipulative grandmother, Rosa. Rosa is a sociopath who manipulates and abuses everyone and ruins the lives of the people she claims to love. Despite being a terrible person, she feels very real and being inside her twisted head was very interesting and seeing the world from her delusional and selfish POV was fascinating.
I loved the book despite hating the narrator.
It is a dark and bizarre story that follows three generations of women in a dysfunctional family, narrated by the controlling, narcissistic and manipulative grandmother, Rosa. Rosa is a sociopath who manipulates and abuses everyone and ruins the lives of the people she claims to love. Despite being a terrible person, she feels very real and being inside her twisted head was very interesting and seeing the world from her delusional and selfish POV was fascinating.
I loved the book despite hating the narrator.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Abortion
Minor: Pedophilia
zaidaz's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
scunareader's review against another edition
4.0
Having been born a Soviet and raised by 2 generations of Soviet women, I felt all at once familiar with the crazy: the unrelenting cleanliness, the instinct to stand in a line not knowing what to expect at the end of the line, the obsession with food, the compulsion to bribe people with chocolate (I find I do this from time to time), and the way of being raised to be better, have more, accomplish much by way of abusive language. A lot of it was not fun, but somehow I always knew I was loved by my grandmother and mother. My grams was nothing like Rosa, but I understand Rosa; hell, I have some relatives like Rosa.
Bronsky has masterfully transferred a real Soviet woman into the pages of a novel and has shown that the old cliche of writing what one knows is the only way to write.
eitvile's review against another edition
4.0
Turbūt kitoniškiausia mano skaityta (tiksliau - klausyta) knyga.
Joje pasakojama apie labai toksišką, narcisistinių savybių ir žiaurumo kupiną žmogų. Ir kas keisčiausia - pirmu asmeniu. Iki šiol į rankas man papuldavo knygos, kuriose apie blogį pasakodavo per atstumą, bent jau trečiuoju asmeniu, o čia buvo priešingai.
Kai kuriose vietose autorė pasakojimo ašį Rozalindą pašaržuoja ir pažiūri į ją su ironija, tai praktiškai visada man sukeldavo "c'mon, rimtai?!" reakciją.
Joje pasakojama apie labai toksišką, narcisistinių savybių ir žiaurumo kupiną žmogų. Ir kas keisčiausia - pirmu asmeniu. Iki šiol į rankas man papuldavo knygos, kuriose apie blogį pasakodavo per atstumą, bent jau trečiuoju asmeniu, o čia buvo priešingai.
Kai kuriose vietose autorė pasakojimo ašį Rozalindą pašaržuoja ir pažiūri į ją su ironija, tai praktiškai visada man sukeldavo "c'mon, rimtai?!" reakciją.
kirsten0929's review against another edition
3.0
[2010] (Translated from German) This woman has to be one of the most destructive characters in contemporary literature. I think she does love and I think she thinks she shows it, but she just shows it in unrecognizable ways. And if it’s unrecognizable, does it count? I won’t say if I waited in vain or not, but I waited a long time to find out what happened to make her this way. An unreliable narrator of the first degree. Physical abuse, pedophilia, psychological and mental cruelty, negative cultural stereotyping, political incorrectness, megalomania and more, occurred throughout and I found it jarring every time. But I gotta give props to the author for fitting all that and a little humor into 262 pages. There’s something to be said for consistency in a character, and she was that, for sure, but at the expense of personal growth? To me the character remained flat throughout. But she was a survivor, you gotta give ol’ Rosa that. One of her few redeeming characteristics.
domicspinnwand's review against another edition
5.0
Schööööööööön! Hat mir supergut gefallen - obwohl sehr skuril,obwohl es - zumindest teilweise - in Russland spielt, was eigentlich nicht so meins ist. Aber Sophie Rois liest sehr, sehr gut - liegt mir einfach. Ich habe oft breit gegrinst resp. laut gelacht, obwohl die Story manchmal ganz schön tragisch ist und einem das Lachen im Hals stecken bleibt. Aber das Buch kommt echt auf meine Highlight-Liste für dieses Jahr!
fbroom's review against another edition
5.0
I couldn't put this down. I kept wanting more and I still want to know more.
The story of three generations of women. The narrator's tone (Rosalinda) is sarcastic and funny. I don't know how to describe Rosalinda. Rosa is a tough and arrogant woman who thinks that her husband is a useless object and her daughter is stupid. She thinks her daughter failed to inherent any of her mother's perfect qualities. The first half is funny but the story takes a different turn and ends with a completely different ending that I had expected.
The story of three generations of women. The narrator's tone (Rosalinda) is sarcastic and funny. I don't know how to describe Rosalinda. Rosa is a tough and arrogant woman who thinks that her husband is a useless object and her daughter is stupid. She thinks her daughter failed to inherent any of her mother's perfect qualities. The first half is funny but the story takes a different turn and ends with a completely different ending that I had expected.