A review by estellegodard
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

challenging emotional funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this book has a lot to say & it did win me over by the end. I periodically had moments when I didn’t enjoy the book but that mainly came from the style of writing: I found it to be exceptionally difficult to read due to its long sentences & philosophizing. but, the story was lovely and the characters were interesting and quirky. in the last 100 pages or so I found myself tearing up twice (a rare occurrence for me). all in all, this is a book I would recommend but I think it needs to be read slowly. the benefit at least was that the chapters are snappy , so even whilst dealing with challenging content, it keeps a good pace & has humorous and sarcastic moments to counterbalance it.