Reviews

Poor Things by Alasdair Gray

carolinew's review against another edition

funny medium-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

3.25

dgrhms's review

challenging dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

katie_arce's review against another edition

funny medium-paced

4.25

_astrea_'s review

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

svitlanareading24's review

5.0

I love this book for its humor, weirdness and plot. Didn't expect the plot twist at the end at all

cjeannette's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

I went into this book not knowing much about it other than what the movie marketing had shared and tbh, it gave me a bit of the ick.

I had a hard time shaking it off at first and also realized I enjoyed the book a lot more when reading it vs. listening on audiobook. Once I reframed my mindset on the book, I could appreciate it for dark satire that it is, navigating the complexities of being a woman and sexuality in a patriarchal society. Not my usual type of read hence the 3.5 but if this is your genre of book, you’ll definitely enjoy it!

amburger3000's review

adventurous dark

4.5

jovanajovicic70's review

dark funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ememem's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

cjdetweiler's review

adventurous funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Struggling to think of anything I didn’t enjoy about reading this book, I read it in just a few sittings and it massively pulled me out a reading slump. 

It brings its setting and scenery to life so richly - usually I get a little bored with over descriptions of scenery but somehow it was woven in so well that I felt I wasn’t reading paragraphs upon paragraphs of descriptive text and yet got a more visceral feel for the environments than with many other books I’ve read.

It’s a lot more developed than the film in character and in themes and I’m glad I watched the film BEFORE I read the book so I could enjoy them as separate entities otherwise I think I would have ended up disliking the adaptation as the book is far superior. There is also such a significant and important element left out of the film that I understand now the critiques of the film as totally undermining the story it was adapting. 

I’m keen to read more books from Alasdair Gray now, his style in this book is very playful, fun and original.