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_fallinglight_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I couldn't connect with the first story, "The Age of Discretion." It was the soporific ramblings of a boy mom, and the last novella was annoying. The standout for me was definitely "The Monologue." Pure, unadulterated female rage, and maybe it's concerning, but I found myself relating a lot to the MC, Murielle, at least with the misanthropic and nihilistic thoughts, her acidic homophobic and racist diatribes notwithstanding. The writing was chef's kiss, run-on sentences and all. The psychotic stream of consciousness was both chaotic and tragic to follow, but reading Murielle's delusions of grandeur and excessive narcissism wasn't as dreadful as when men do it. I think this manifesto against the world is the one I'll keep coming back to, and maybe I'll even make it a tradition to read it on every new year's day starting next year lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Suicide, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Sexism, Child death, Gaslighting, and Mental illness
Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy
nabila99's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.5
my first experience with de Beauvoir was reading the second sex for gender theory class at university. if only i knew she was so talented a fiction writer as well!
this book is absolutely heart-wrenching, so much so that i had to start reading another book in the middle of it, even though i was really enjoying it, because it is so heavy....i've read novels with much darker and sadder subject material, but the way de Beauvoir writes about pain, loss of identity, desperation, resentment, hope, and despair is so visceral i cried multiple times, especially in the last eponymous short story. she captures women's suffering like no other.
i only took off a half star because the writing style in the second short story, the monologue, is so difficult to follow (even though it's genius and i admire the technique and contrast in narrative voices), and some of the side characters could have been more fleshed out.
cannot wait to read more of de Beauvoir's work!
this book is absolutely heart-wrenching, so much so that i had to start reading another book in the middle of it, even though i was really enjoying it, because it is so heavy....i've read novels with much darker and sadder subject material, but the way de Beauvoir writes about pain, loss of identity, desperation, resentment, hope, and despair is so visceral i cried multiple times, especially in the last eponymous short story. she captures women's suffering like no other.
i only took off a half star because the writing style in the second short story, the monologue, is so difficult to follow (even though it's genius and i admire the technique and contrast in narrative voices), and some of the side characters could have been more fleshed out.
cannot wait to read more of de Beauvoir's work!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Drug abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Alcohol, Misogyny, Death, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicide, Abandonment, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Blood, Abortion, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Sexual content
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