Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ephrata 's review for:
I Who Have Never Known Men
by Jacqueline Harpman
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
oh wow this book... i don't even know where to start reviewing it. i left with more questions than i had when i started the book: where are they? who are the guards? where did they disappear off to when the siren went off? why did the siren even go off? where were those guards in the bus going? what killed them? why were the women held captive? where were they? and who is behind this all? so, so many questions and virtually no answers. maybe that is the point. an empty, plain world with so many questions that leaves even the readers puzzled (i get this and still i do want the answers cause i feel like they're important to the world).
even the way the book was structured, with no chapters but just three arcs with just a hypen for a title, seems in support of this because there's no distinct difference between day and night and one action and another in this world. everyday is the same and kind of mushed together, and i feel like the structure contributed to making me feel this emptiness so strongly. and if it is only my version of the book that has this odd structure or if it is the work of the translator then i was in luck because this made me more attached to the book.
when the book started and it sounded as if the narrator is looking back on what she and the women went through, and the random times that she references being left alone after all the others died before they have even died at that point in the story strongly tells us that this story is doomed from the start, that there is no happy ending. still, i had to see it till the end. i loved the way anthea took care of her and the other women and their dynamics. i was hoping to see more of the female friendship in this book, hoping to see the other women more fleshed out but sometimes they were just names and no more. and perhaps this too may be on purpose, because what uniqueness, what personality would one have when one has been confined for so long trying to survive?
it hurts me that the protagonist never really had a name :( and i feel like the description of the book is misleading because never was she the key to the escape of the women even if she knew how to tell time. her staring at the young guard wasn't what led to their escape, but the lucky (or unlucky) coincidence of the keys being within reach right when the siren sounded.
overall, it isn't love but intrigue that i feel for this book, and although it could've explored the themes more deeply i feel like 4 stars is so fitting.
even the way the book was structured, with no chapters but just three arcs with just a hypen for a title, seems in support of this because there's no distinct difference between day and night and one action and another in this world. everyday is the same and kind of mushed together, and i feel like the structure contributed to making me feel this emptiness so strongly. and if it is only my version of the book that has this odd structure or if it is the work of the translator then i was in luck because this made me more attached to the book.
when the book started and it sounded as if the narrator is looking back on what she and the women went through, and the random times that she references being left alone after all the others died before they have even died at that point in the story strongly tells us that this story is doomed from the start, that there is no happy ending. still, i had to see it till the end. i loved the way anthea took care of her and the other women and their dynamics. i was hoping to see more of the female friendship in this book, hoping to see the other women more fleshed out but sometimes they were just names and no more. and perhaps this too may be on purpose, because what uniqueness, what personality would one have when one has been confined for so long trying to survive?
it hurts me that the protagonist never really had a name :( and i feel like the description of the book is misleading because never was she the key to the escape of the women even if she knew how to tell time. her staring at the young guard wasn't what led to their escape, but the lucky (or unlucky) coincidence of the keys being within reach right when the siren sounded.
overall, it isn't love but intrigue that i feel for this book, and although it could've explored the themes more deeply i feel like 4 stars is so fitting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt
Minor: Cancer, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Torture, Excrement, Dementia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail