Review by arthurbuttons - Girl, Woman, Other

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arthurbuttons 's review for:

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

5.0

challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I really really enjoyed this book but it is an incredibly tough read. There are some really really hard stories about rape, sexual violence and domestic abuse that feel really real and are tough to read but the way it is done is so clever.

I found Dominique's story really hard to read but she does completely survive it which is good and actually a good thing to have in a story. I just think that the way the abuse was described and the effect that it had on Dominique was so realistic. It was also interesting at the end. You hear from Shirley's perspective. Shirley doesn't know Dominique and doesn't know what she's gone through and Shirley can see the difference in her which was interesting to see.
Carol and La-Tisha's stories are both completely heartbreaking but again it is so clever how their stories sort of link and mirror each other and we see the way both of them survive being raped by the same person.

I really loved a lot of the characters. Morgan was awesome. I loved Amma - like I liked how cool and open minded Amma was. I loved Yazz and actually it was really cool to see Yazz's friends and how Yazz gets more knowledgeable at university. I obviously loved Dominique and Carol and La-Tisha was awesome. I really really liked Bummi - like the way Bummi would do anything for her daughter. Like she was completely devoted but also illustrious and clever.

I loved Grace and Grace's story. Grace's mother and the development of Grace after she goes through so much loss was heartbreaking but also like really cool and like you know when something everyday is just inspirational. I love that.

I don't always need people to do incredible things. Sometimes I like just seeing people being awesome just living their lives. In fairness, I think that is what I loved about the book. It is stories of just women doing awesome everyday things and just living awesome everyday lives overcoming adversity which is what I want to be inspired by.

I loved how Grace got over literally so much horrific loss and learned to love Hattie. Then the final little twist is that Penelope (who is quite jaded and works with Shirley) ends up finding out that Hattie is her mother. Honestly it was so clever. Also quite interesting to think about how all the characters are linked - like Grace's perspective on Joseph was that he was always there for her and adored Hattie. But he also takes Barbara away.

I think I've made it really clear that I did really enjoy this book although it is a really tough read. I actually listened to the audio book but I think where you do want to be able to go back and check things, I would probably recommend a reading book rather than the audio book (although the audio is very very good).
The book is very very clever and there are all little (I've called them) Easter eggs linking to different characters in other characters stories - like Morgan or Amma just sort of running through it. I think I read another review that compares it to Love Actually and they're completely right. Amma and Morgan are like the Bill Nighy and Mr Bean just bringing them all together.

Content Warnings