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A review by jenniferforjoy
All the Ways We Lied by Aida Zilelian
3.0
Recommended: sure
for a thoughtful reflective character study, for a melancholy and sad feel, for difficult characters you grow to understand but maybe not like
Expected publication date: January 9, 2024
Thoughts
It's taken me a long time to do this review since I finished it a month ago. The end of it took a sharp left that I was intrigued by, but the final resolution was a shock and honestly left me reeling and in a bit of a free fall. I was bemused, disbelieving, unsure, unsteady. Whether I "liked" it or not I can't really say, but it certainly did have an effect on me, so I overall would say that it works as an ending. Still, I find myself thinking about it.
The build of the story to that point is meandering and slow, very much a study of each character's individuality as well as the way they connect. Frequently, they don't -want- to connect with each other but they just can't escape it, for better or worse. And we do see both sides of it here -- the better and the worse. A lot of pain has seeped into this family, almost like a heritage, a very sad one. They all try to cope with it in very different ways, and I'm not sure anyone really succeeds. They certainly do try, though.
I don't know that I really liked any of the characters or could root for them as people, but at the same time I felt so much empathy for them and often understood WHY they acted and thought the way they did. I understood them but still possible would have distanced myself in real life.
Their Armenian history and heritage is a part of what makes each of them and is accounted for in some ways in their stories, but it's also not necessarily the main focus of the story. It affects them and some of their decisions, but overall the story is about their relationships with each other.
For the setup, there's sort of a part 1 and part 2 to this story with a significant shift in the middle that changes the narrative a bit. There's maybe even a shorter part 3 towards the end where this really took a left turn, but was an interesting way to re-engage with the story before it concluded.
There are a lot of narrators and perspectives, at least 4 main ones and then sometimes little bits from another character. It took me a bit to remember which character was in which situation, but after a few chapters from each it got easier. If you asked me who the "main" character was I could probably narrow it down to two, but they all interacted so much and affected each other's lives so much that it doesn't really work that way. The main story is all of their stories, together.
Overall this is a really melancholy, sad book with a reflective nature and a lot of consideration of difficult issues and relationships from all the characters.
Thank you to the author for a free advanced copy. This is my honest review!
for a thoughtful reflective character study, for a melancholy and sad feel, for difficult characters you grow to understand but maybe not like
Expected publication date: January 9, 2024
Thoughts
It's taken me a long time to do this review since I finished it a month ago. The end of it took a sharp left that I was intrigued by, but the final resolution was a shock and honestly left me reeling and in a bit of a free fall. I was bemused, disbelieving, unsure, unsteady. Whether I "liked" it or not I can't really say, but it certainly did have an effect on me, so I overall would say that it works as an ending. Still, I find myself thinking about it.
The build of the story to that point is meandering and slow, very much a study of each character's individuality as well as the way they connect. Frequently, they don't -want- to connect with each other but they just can't escape it, for better or worse. And we do see both sides of it here -- the better and the worse. A lot of pain has seeped into this family, almost like a heritage, a very sad one. They all try to cope with it in very different ways, and I'm not sure anyone really succeeds. They certainly do try, though.
I don't know that I really liked any of the characters or could root for them as people, but at the same time I felt so much empathy for them and often understood WHY they acted and thought the way they did. I understood them but still possible would have distanced myself in real life.
Their Armenian history and heritage is a part of what makes each of them and is accounted for in some ways in their stories, but it's also not necessarily the main focus of the story. It affects them and some of their decisions, but overall the story is about their relationships with each other.
For the setup, there's sort of a part 1 and part 2 to this story with a significant shift in the middle that changes the narrative a bit. There's maybe even a shorter part 3 towards the end where this really took a left turn, but was an interesting way to re-engage with the story before it concluded.
There are a lot of narrators and perspectives, at least 4 main ones and then sometimes little bits from another character. It took me a bit to remember which character was in which situation, but after a few chapters from each it got easier. If you asked me who the "main" character was I could probably narrow it down to two, but they all interacted so much and affected each other's lives so much that it doesn't really work that way. The main story is all of their stories, together.
Overall this is a really melancholy, sad book with a reflective nature and a lot of consideration of difficult issues and relationships from all the characters.
Thank you to the author for a free advanced copy. This is my honest review!