A review by paperbookmarks
The End of Loneliness by Benedict Wells

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book came on my radar after I read a Guardian review of it when it was released. I love reading as much translated fiction as possible, and my experience of reading translated German fiction is very limited. There were parts of this book I loved, parts I didn't love so much, and parts I unfortunately had to skim read/skip over due to them being too close to home. Wells (and in her translation Collins) do such a beautiful job of depicting grief and memory and there were passages that were so striking. I didn't appreciate the female characters so much, they felt quite 2D and one character in particular felt very "manic-pixie-dreamgirl-esque". I will, though, be seeking out Wells' other books in German and giving them a go! 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings