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A review by glitterpricked
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
first, before reading this book, I often saw it described as telling the story of twelve interconnected Black British women. this synopsis is unfair, in my opinion, as one of the twelve characters is actually non-binary. other than that, the book most certainly does depict themes such as womanhood.
it took me about 80 pages to get into the book, and I was convinced I'd end up rating it about 2.5*. however, I'm glad I continued because I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Amma started off the book and was the hardest section to get through as it read more like a list than a novel. Yazz, Amma's daughter, followed, a character I found somewhat unlikeable so hard to read.
however, I concede that me struggling for the first 80 pages could be because: Amma acted as the set-up to the book; I was getting used to the writing style (little punctuation and not very prosaic); and the book I read before this was The Picture of Dorian Gray, which has long flowy descriptions at times, very different to this book.
reading tips: I'd say power through the first two characters, Amma and Yazz, and only decide to give up while you're reading Dominique's story. also keep in mind that the author is purposefully making these characters complex, so there will be character traits that you do not like.
things I liked about the book:
- the way the author depicted certain themes, including (but probably not limited to): success, generation gaps, motherhood, sisterhood, misogyny, racism, womanhood, aging
- characters are often portrayed as acting in ways that are hypocritical or selfish, which makes them very realistic
- the "happy endings" are realistic and subjective
- the characters are all from different backgrounds and have very distinct personalities
- I cried NINE times during this book... that says enough
- the interconnections were done really well: some sections made me really empathise with characters who I previously did not like because of their treatment of other characters
- the ending very nicely tied one plotline together
things I did not like:
- the author comes across as a little out of touch during Yazz's section, using unnecessary slang (e.g. "squad"...) and hashtags thrown in for no reason (e.g. #whitegirltrumpsblackgirl...)
- to begin with, switching from character to character tired me out a little bit (e.g. by the end of Yazz's section, I wanted to know more about her and her group of friends)
- there were a few points where the discourse felt a little surface-level and so didn't offer anything new
- didn't have much of an opinion on Amma until Dominique's section, which is strange as the first two sections were about Amma and Amma's own daughter
- character flaws feel like they're going too far sometimes
- there was one character who I wish the author came back to at the end but didn't
- this may be my fault but other reviews have also said that at some points, the character names got confusing, especially with all the minor characters in chapter five
it took me about 80 pages to get into the book, and I was convinced I'd end up rating it about 2.5*. however, I'm glad I continued because I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Amma started off the book and was the hardest section to get through as it read more like a list than a novel. Yazz, Amma's daughter, followed, a character I found somewhat unlikeable so hard to read.
however, I concede that me struggling for the first 80 pages could be because: Amma acted as the set-up to the book; I was getting used to the writing style (little punctuation and not very prosaic); and the book I read before this was The Picture of Dorian Gray, which has long flowy descriptions at times, very different to this book.
reading tips: I'd say power through the first two characters, Amma and Yazz, and only decide to give up while you're reading Dominique's story. also keep in mind that the author is purposefully making these characters complex, so there will be character traits that you do not like.
things I liked about the book:
- the way the author depicted certain themes, including (but probably not limited to): success, generation gaps, motherhood, sisterhood, misogyny, racism, womanhood, aging
- characters are often portrayed as acting in ways that are hypocritical or selfish, which makes them very realistic
- the "happy endings" are realistic and subjective
- the characters are all from different backgrounds and have very distinct personalities
- I cried NINE times during this book... that says enough
- the interconnections were done really well: some sections made me really empathise with characters who I previously did not like because of their treatment of other characters
- the ending very nicely tied one plotline together
things I did not like:
- the author comes across as a little out of touch during Yazz's section, using unnecessary slang (e.g. "squad"...) and hashtags thrown in for no reason (e.g. #whitegirltrumpsblackgirl...)
- to begin with, switching from character to character tired me out a little bit (e.g. by the end of Yazz's section, I wanted to know more about her and her group of friends)
- there were a few points where the discourse felt a little surface-level and so didn't offer anything new
- didn't have much of an opinion on Amma until Dominique's section, which is strange as the first two sections were about Amma and Amma's own daughter
- character flaws feel like they're going too far sometimes
- there was one character who I wish the author came back to at the end but didn't
- this may be my fault but other reviews have also said that at some points, the character names got confusing, especially with all the minor characters in chapter five
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, and Transphobia