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simplicityx 's review for:
Girl, Woman, Other
by Bernardine Evaristo
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I both read and listened to this as an audiobook, and if not for the latter, I wouldn’t have managed to complete it.
While I enjoyed the book overall, it wasn’t an easy read. The experimental writing style with a sparing use of punctuation, verse-like blocks of text, and liberal sprinklings of line breaks was difficult to get into. Not having punctuation is the worst for me. Anything out of place normally takes me out of the story as the grammar nazi in me emerges. It was much easier listening to this as an audiobook, and I normally dislike fiction in this format.
There are some very serious and complex themes packed into the 12 narratives that make up <i>Girl, Woman, Other</i>. They center on love, sexuality, race/racism, culture, abuse, intersectionality and social change. It actually made me horrified, sad and numb at some points. If you’re into books that make you think for a long time afterwards, this is very, very good.
Some of the stories seem far-fetched in their rise from abuse though. And there was one character who met her daughter’s boyfriend and immediately thought “I want to massage his balls”. Wtf
While I enjoyed the book overall, it wasn’t an easy read. The experimental writing style with a sparing use of punctuation, verse-like blocks of text, and liberal sprinklings of line breaks was difficult to get into. Not having punctuation is the worst for me. Anything out of place normally takes me out of the story as the grammar nazi in me emerges. It was much easier listening to this as an audiobook, and I normally dislike fiction in this format.
There are some very serious and complex themes packed into the 12 narratives that make up <i>Girl, Woman, Other</i>. They center on love, sexuality, race/racism, culture, abuse, intersectionality and social change. It actually made me horrified, sad and numb at some points. If you’re into books that make you think for a long time afterwards, this is very, very good.
Some of the stories seem far-fetched in their rise from abuse though. And there was one character who met her daughter’s boyfriend and immediately thought “I want to massage his balls”. Wtf
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape