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recycledwords 's review for:
Among Friends
by Hal Ebbott
Immediately upon starting this novel I was confused. The writing was disjointed and full of so many similes it was hard to grasp any sort of narrative. It felt very contrived and pretentious and meant I had a hard time getting to know any of the characters.
Then, suddenly, the "big event" happens and the pacing becomes more manageable as the paragraphs and chapters lengthen and offer a deeper look at the thoughts and motivations of the characters. It was incredibly uncomfortable reading certain descriptions of Anna's maturation and her own mother's take on the sexualisation of a teenage girl. There is absolutely no world in which I can imagine a woman ever thinking in such a way and the fact that this comes from a male author makes it all the more abhorrent.
The only characters I felt were trustworthy were in fact the two teenage daughters. Anna and Sophie were depicted realistically as being caught up in their own worlds; this is crystal clear in the last interaction we see between them where both girls are worrying what the other is thinking about them and Sophie chooses to walk away rather than confront her own hurt.
My hopes were raised when Amos intervened on his daughter's behalf but the final chapter implies that he didn't take a proper stand for her after all. Retsy and Emerson were strange characters seemingly devoid of emotion and only interested in themselves. Claire seemed far too concerned about social standing and not wanting to tip the applecart rather than being there for her daughter in a time of need.
This was just an uncomfortable read on so many levels - the writing style didn't engage me, the characters were vapid and two dimensional and I was incredibly put off by some of the views expressed on teenage girls and sexualisation.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Then, suddenly, the "big event" happens and the pacing becomes more manageable as the paragraphs and chapters lengthen and offer a deeper look at the thoughts and motivations of the characters. It was incredibly uncomfortable reading certain descriptions of Anna's maturation and her own mother's take on the sexualisation of a teenage girl. There is absolutely no world in which I can imagine a woman ever thinking in such a way and the fact that this comes from a male author makes it all the more abhorrent.
The only characters I felt were trustworthy were in fact the two teenage daughters. Anna and Sophie were depicted realistically as being caught up in their own worlds; this is crystal clear in the last interaction we see between them where both girls are worrying what the other is thinking about them and Sophie chooses to walk away rather than confront her own hurt.
My hopes were raised when Amos intervened on his daughter's behalf but the final chapter implies that he didn't take a proper stand for her after all. Retsy and Emerson were strange characters seemingly devoid of emotion and only interested in themselves. Claire seemed far too concerned about social standing and not wanting to tip the applecart rather than being there for her daughter in a time of need.
This was just an uncomfortable read on so many levels - the writing style didn't engage me, the characters were vapid and two dimensional and I was incredibly put off by some of the views expressed on teenage girls and sexualisation.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.