A review by hedsek
Private Rites by Julia Armfield

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Read this pretty quickly because as per usual Armfield's prose is gorgeous but very readable. The atmosphere of this book is really well conveyed and kind of surrounds you for the entirety of the book. The characters were all flawed and annoying and very very human, which I liked a lot. Another big plus were the little descriptions of trying to make life as normal as possible in a world in disarray, felt very realistic. I think the book missed some of the magical realism vibes of Our wives under the sea and was overall a bit more striaghtforwardly depressing, but it worked in its own way.
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