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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
To say you understand this book is to not have read it. The author has done both a lovely and torturous thing in that everything is constantly something else. There is a story of magic gingerbread, and a story of social woes. There is a story of family, and of being alone. There is subtext abound and simultaneously seemingly none at all. It’s intensely challenging and can be a bit tiresome at points so give it the benefit of the doubt on getting through it.
In addition, I believe there are important “animal farm-esq” qualities to the writing. Are the dolls literal or are they the questions the author wishes us to ask, or both? Is it a story of mothers and daughters or do the mothers stand for something else entirely…? Perhaps societal expectations put upon us are reflected? Is Gretel a physical girl, a reflection of youth, the narrator’s own inner voice? These are questions you simply will not get the answer to fully. A wonderful and excruciating thing.
Be prepared to invest time in this book, be prepared to annotate and process and get confused. Good luck!
In addition, I believe there are important “animal farm-esq” qualities to the writing. Are the dolls literal or are they the questions the author wishes us to ask, or both? Is it a story of mothers and daughters or do the mothers stand for something else entirely…? Perhaps societal expectations put upon us are reflected? Is Gretel a physical girl, a reflection of youth, the narrator’s own inner voice? These are questions you simply will not get the answer to fully. A wonderful and excruciating thing.
Be prepared to invest time in this book, be prepared to annotate and process and get confused. Good luck!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content
Moderate: Abortion
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Gingerbread is a slow-plot fast-dialogue fantasy (fairy-tale) novel that I struggled to get through for 9 months.
Plot and characters just not working for me
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
challenging
medium-paced
If there is a narrative thread here I've failed to find it, but I enjoyed pulling on the bits of loose string I could grasp along the way. A story so opaque I couldn't penetrate it, but beautiful prose and the occasional fairy tale reference I glimpsed thru the fog. This is my second oyeyemi book and I think it's my last, I just don't get it.
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really wanted to like this book. While the writing was gorgeous, I quickly lost interest in and hold of the plot. I also wasn’t a huge fan of how the story was structured. Maybe I need to take longer with this book to really enjoy and understand it, but I just couldn’t.
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes