Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

7 reviews

meremeth's review

I thought this was a book about a dog... Man what the hell 🤦🏻 
I got to the sex trafficking part and gave up.
I really enjoyed the writing style, but the content of the book feels indulgent and unnecessarily heavy at times 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Suicide, Trafficking, and Rape

brinnavirginia's review

emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, and Infidelity

Minor: Excrement and Vomit

ahorowitz25's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

1.0

Unfortunately, this book is a great example of misleading blurbs. I thought this was a tale about how a woman copes with her friend's suicide by taking in the man's dog, Apollo, and how both animal and human help each other grieve of the unexpected death. Instead, I got a middle-aged woman’s long-winded, wandering pontifications and justifications of her friend's repeated adultering and infidelities with his students and colleagues because he insisted that "a college setting encourages such behavior."

Gross.

Is it well written in a profoundly literary (read: pretentious and grating) style? Yes. But I just couldn’t get past how nauseous the male prof made me. I shouldn’t have bothered finishing it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal death

motleybooksandtea's review

dark emotional sad medium-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

2.5

2.5 — Oh goodness.

There were aspects of this book that really resonated with me. My internal sad girl felt very seen. The writing, itself, was also stunning and addictive.

I also loved that all the characters were unnamed except Apollo, the dog. That added a really cool depth.

However.

There were a lot of macabre topics that were mentioned, glanced over, and didn’t feel like they were purposeful to the story. There were asides that were not pertinent to the story. There were a few statements or ‘jokes’ that fell flat.

The triggers were not a problem for me, but there were A LOT of triggers. Do yourself a favor and look them up if you are thinking of reading this book.

I do want to try Nunez’s other works, though, due to the beauty of the writing. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Rape

Moderate: Abandonment and Mental illness

apeck's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide, and Death

Minor: Rape, Trafficking, and Infidelity

klor's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

A nuanced look at grief, live, and friendship. There's so much heart in this book as well as the mundanity of grieving, of existing with it. It primarily followed the train of throughts of our narrator and wherever it takes her throughout the chapters. I really appreciated the complex relationship she had with her friend, the build up and development she had with Apollo

(even the switch of the second person from her friend to Apollo, I thought that was really neat and it gave the last chapter such a punch)

, and the spectrum that exists within teaching and the writing world despite my not agreeing to all of the narrator's points. The plot often gets lost in the deviations that happens per chapter and while some hits more than others, I wouldn't say it's the worst thing. I feel so emotional about this, and thinking of my own pet and of my friends who I love a lot.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Grief, and Death

Minor: Animal death and Infidelity

bodiesinbooks's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Cursing, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide