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A review by kforrester
Ripeness by Sarah Moss
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Ripeness is another triumph from Sarah Moss—quietly powerful, intellectually sharp, and emotionally resonant. Moss continues to demonstrate her remarkable gift for capturing the subtle tensions of modern life: the unspoken dynamics between people, the unease of privilege, the quiet anxieties that hum beneath the surface of the everyday.
The writing is spare yet vivid, and Moss’s ability to say so much in so few words is striking. Every sentence feels intentional. The characters are finely drawn, their inner lives rendered with both empathy and critical distance. There’s a strong undercurrent of unease throughout—social, personal, environmental—that builds with an almost imperceptible force until you realize just how much is at stake beneath the surface.
What I admire most is how Moss never resorts to melodrama. Instead, she trusts her readers to sit in ambiguity, to feel discomfort, to reflect. This is literary fiction at its most intelligent and humane.
Highly recommended for readers who love introspective, thought-provoking novels that linger long after the final page.
The writing is spare yet vivid, and Moss’s ability to say so much in so few words is striking. Every sentence feels intentional. The characters are finely drawn, their inner lives rendered with both empathy and critical distance. There’s a strong undercurrent of unease throughout—social, personal, environmental—that builds with an almost imperceptible force until you realize just how much is at stake beneath the surface.
What I admire most is how Moss never resorts to melodrama. Instead, she trusts her readers to sit in ambiguity, to feel discomfort, to reflect. This is literary fiction at its most intelligent and humane.
Highly recommended for readers who love introspective, thought-provoking novels that linger long after the final page.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Abandonment