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meremeth's review
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
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Suicide, Trafficking, and Rape
kell_xavi's review
3.5
I enjoyed many of the literary connections Nunez and the narrator, herself a writer and professor, make. I don’t tend to pick up writing about writing, but the perspective of an older woman, well-read and used to both capturing her feelings and parsing them through writing (hers, other authors’), made sense here as an opening. Grief, love, pets, ownership, devotion, attention, death: these are all subjects that are heavily present in literature and in our lives. This short novel is both a simple one as it repeats, mirrors them, and one that stirs and enriches the reader. The woman and the dog both dedicated to another, the woman and man both in authority, the reflection of the woman on each role and companion also a flicker of light on herself. At the same time, this continues to be a story of a friendship between human and dog, one that epitomizes the Rilke quote about love being two solitudes that greet each other.
At the close of this novel, I wanted it to continue. There were many parts, however, that I didn’t enjoy. There’s a grossness to both men and animals, there’s a sustained apology for it, that I find it difficult to approach. It was more that I wanted The Friend to be different, more of some parts and less of others.
Moderate: Trafficking and Suicide
kellymcmanus's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Suicide
mugsandmanuscripts's review
- 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? Yes
5.0
The unnamed narrator, a writer, spends months working through her acute grief after her mentor and best friend commits suicide. Her complex and often muddled feelings toward him complicate her journey. The narrator is well-developed and entirely believable; she is unsure of herself, unsure of her feelings, not always completely honest with herself (although, I think, strives to be), and deeply engulfed in her grief (but, with dry humor, also still indignant at her late mentor's incessant womanizing).
As she processes her loss, she also processes her relationship with her mentor and what he meant to her. She also ruminates on the academic field of writing itself as well as many of the difficulties inherent to working in the field. Given that her friend was also her writing professor many years ago, it seems natural that processing her loss also causes these tangental reflections to surface.
The narrator is joined in her grief by the dog of her late mentor, as his wife isn't interested in caring for the heartbroken animal. The relationship complicates her life significantly, since the dog is huge (a great dane), old (and therefore ailing), and not allowed in her apartment. She faces eviction and the well-meaning, though seemingly heavy concern of her friends.
I really loved this one, which surprised me a little bit. I normally like books that are a little more plot-focused, but this one was just so well-done and engaging. I honestly wouldn’t change anything at all.
Graphic: Grief and Suicide
This book reads like an astute exploration of grief with a side of shrewd commentary on the art and life of a writer. The nameless female narrator spends the book working through her acute grief after her mentor and best friend commits suicide. The grief is complicated by her complex feelings toward her mentor, including possibly romantic feelings for him (which she herself isn’t sure about) as well as anger toward him for his womanizing.materiality's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Death
leefox's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Grief
sagecannon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Sexism and Suicide
alwayskeara's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Suicide
ktoumajian's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Suicide
brinnavirginia's review
- 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
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, and Infidelity
Minor: Excrement and Vomit