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A review by bplayfuli
Little Face by Sophie Hannah
4.0
I don't usually write reviews but I felt I should do something to counteract some of the negative ones I have read - because most of them are inaccurate and show a poor grasp of the characters and their personalities.
The inaccurate reviewers all claim to understand the concept of an unreliable narrator then complain that the author cheated. They claim that the narrator didn't just obscure the truth but flat out lied because they don't think the story told holds up once the truth is known. This is false. The story holds up 100%. I was really impressed by the care Sophie Hannah used in crafting the first person narration. It definitely created the impression the narrator wanted yet once the truth is revealed it still worked. It is possible that I had an easier time grasping this because I am trained for close reading of texts. I don't want to give any spoilers so I will just say that the author did not cheat - the narrator's thoughts stand up 100% on reexamination once the truth is known.
Another complaint I have read is that one of the "bad guys" got no comeuppance. SERIOUSLY? This happens all the time in the real world! People get away with misdeeds all the time. Why is it so awful for it to happen in a novel? Aside from that, it's simply not true. Sure there were no legal repercussions but the character definitely ends up suffering for their actions. We are left not knowing what happens to this person but I can easily see a downward spiral ending in suicide because this person loses their entire support system and is left as the empty shell of a person they are. I can easily see them committing suicide in the future beyond the novel. This is plenty of punishment as far as I am concerned.
One final complaint that cropped up frequently is that people don't like the change in one of main characters at the end of the novel. I don't understand this because it is perfectly in line with the character Hannah created. This is a person who is certain of their intellectual superiority, who is repressed and emotionally stunted. Someone who tends to feel others are against them and has anger issues. I felt that the change in attitude is exactly how this person would respond on finding out that someone they idolized had lied and manipulated them. A person like that would never forgive a betrayal of such magnitude.
I feel like people were maybe just disappointed because there was no tidy wrap up where all the bad guys go off to jail and the good guys end up happy but that's not real life, is it? In real life people have thoughts and feelings that aren't logical. They do things that make sense to them but not to anyone else. I feel like Hannah worked hard to create realistic characters and the result is that seems of their actions are inexplicable to us. But we as readers aren't in the middle of a nightmare scenario, trying to muddle through and acting out of desperation.
I highly enjoyed this novel. The ending felt a bit rushed and the characters aren't particularly likeable but that's okay because the author doesn't present them as if she expects sympathy for them. She worked really hard to make them real - and I feel as if she succeeded. I think that if we could read each other's minds we would all live in isolation because we wouldn't be able to handle the messes in other people's heads. Hannah does a terrific job of showing some of the ugliness we all have inside us - the judgemental or uncharitable thoughts, self pity and petty grievances. The awful things we sometimes think but would never articulate.
So yeah, I really enjoyed this novel. It's not entirely plausible but works well enough with a willing suspension of disbelief. The ending felt a bit rushed. There was a lot of psychobabble. I didn't feel any of these were serious issues though. It was well written and the tension mounted at a good pace. The characters felt real to me and I want to know more about them, even if I don't like them very much.
The inaccurate reviewers all claim to understand the concept of an unreliable narrator then complain that the author cheated. They claim that the narrator didn't just obscure the truth but flat out lied because they don't think the story told holds up once the truth is known. This is false. The story holds up 100%. I was really impressed by the care Sophie Hannah used in crafting the first person narration. It definitely created the impression the narrator wanted yet once the truth is revealed it still worked. It is possible that I had an easier time grasping this because I am trained for close reading of texts. I don't want to give any spoilers so I will just say that the author did not cheat - the narrator's thoughts stand up 100% on reexamination once the truth is known.
Another complaint I have read is that one of the "bad guys" got no comeuppance. SERIOUSLY? This happens all the time in the real world! People get away with misdeeds all the time. Why is it so awful for it to happen in a novel? Aside from that, it's simply not true. Sure there were no legal repercussions but the character definitely ends up suffering for their actions. We are left not knowing what happens to this person but I can easily see a downward spiral ending in suicide because this person loses their entire support system and is left as the empty shell of a person they are. I can easily see them committing suicide in the future beyond the novel. This is plenty of punishment as far as I am concerned.
One final complaint that cropped up frequently is that people don't like the change in one of main characters at the end of the novel. I don't understand this because it is perfectly in line with the character Hannah created. This is a person who is certain of their intellectual superiority, who is repressed and emotionally stunted. Someone who tends to feel others are against them and has anger issues. I felt that the change in attitude is exactly how this person would respond on finding out that someone they idolized had lied and manipulated them. A person like that would never forgive a betrayal of such magnitude.
I feel like people were maybe just disappointed because there was no tidy wrap up where all the bad guys go off to jail and the good guys end up happy but that's not real life, is it? In real life people have thoughts and feelings that aren't logical. They do things that make sense to them but not to anyone else. I feel like Hannah worked hard to create realistic characters and the result is that seems of their actions are inexplicable to us. But we as readers aren't in the middle of a nightmare scenario, trying to muddle through and acting out of desperation.
I highly enjoyed this novel. The ending felt a bit rushed and the characters aren't particularly likeable but that's okay because the author doesn't present them as if she expects sympathy for them. She worked really hard to make them real - and I feel as if she succeeded. I think that if we could read each other's minds we would all live in isolation because we wouldn't be able to handle the messes in other people's heads. Hannah does a terrific job of showing some of the ugliness we all have inside us - the judgemental or uncharitable thoughts, self pity and petty grievances. The awful things we sometimes think but would never articulate.
So yeah, I really enjoyed this novel. It's not entirely plausible but works well enough with a willing suspension of disbelief. The ending felt a bit rushed. There was a lot of psychobabble. I didn't feel any of these were serious issues though. It was well written and the tension mounted at a good pace. The characters felt real to me and I want to know more about them, even if I don't like them very much.