emilyinherhead 's review for:

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

2.0

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I think I'm definitely in the minority here, but considering the acclaim I've seen attached to Elena Ferrante and to this novel in particular, I was disappointed. To be sure, the writing is lovely and Ferrante is clearly very talented, but I found myself slogging through My Brilliant Friend, wanting to shake Elena (main character, not author) by the shoulders and shout "LET IT GO" — the obsession with and comparison to Lila just wouldn't stop. It was too much. Elena felt more like a mirror for the people she hung out with than a person herself; I never got to know her as a character and was really frustrated by that fact.