Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

5 reviews

ahorowitz25's review

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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. 
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motleybooksandtea's review

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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. 
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marshallkylie's review

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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zzara's review

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

3.0

I expected this book to focus on the relationship between a woman, and her dead friends' dog. I liked the parts which explored what the dog might be thinking, and how her life changed to find space for the dog. I find this sort of exploration fascinating and I thought this was an interesting perspective, given that this dog-human relationship that was united by death. But I felt like this was actually a peripheral part of the novel. This book was largely about writing, being a writer and the New York literary culture, which was just not my cup of tea. Also, I got the feeling that the author hadn't actually had a big dog, just had talked to someone who had - I have a big dog, and it is a special experience to have them begin to pervade your life. I also just didn't buy the thing when he brought her books. I do think she got it right in this quote though: "Why is it different when the dog is the size of a man and stretched out with his head on his own pillow? [...] having a huge warm body pressed along the length of your spine is an amazing comfort."
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doddyaboutbooks's review

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dark emotional reflective slow-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? Yes

4.0

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