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whatsbookinjenni's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I just love a little story about a woman just going through her life — relatable yet devastating just the same!!
ehwhitty's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lindseyjones's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was compulsively readable but was all over the dang place. I love her two most recent novels so it's really interesting to see how much she's changed as a writer.
trixiew's review against another edition
5.0
This was one of those ever moving stories with many components that somehow the author makes so followable. I never once felt lost and I loved Georgette as the main narrator, allowing others to narrate the story when needed. Even though we never get any inner monologue from Ann herself, following her life through those that observed and interacted with her made her character believable. Although I’ve never met somebody like her before I can imagine someone like her existing because of Nunez’s writing. I also see her character as a sort of allegory/metaphor/symbol in which I can’t stop reflecting. A compelling story connecting historical events and interweaving the lives of many characters all touched by Ann!
cemoses's review against another edition
5.0
It was sometime ago I read this book, so I don't remember all of the details but I remember liking the book alot. I thought it was an interesting picture of both the good and the bad of the radicals of the nineteen sixties.
tdoongietan's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
minipliny's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book made me think and argue with myself all the way through, which I really appreciated - what would it mean to be a simone weil type, to try and be a secular Saint, in early 70s America? You have the main character who narrates and is trying to keep her head down and her infuriating, compelling larger than life friend, and then Nunez expands and turns that dynamic around in a whole number of ways, not least in the connection the main character makes with her friend's parents. It's interesting reading this in 2024 as well as a book about a rich white woman trying to align herself and become a poor Black woman; I think my reading of the book is that she does a lot more damage than she realises, but I don't know if Nunez means to communicate that as well or if I'm reading some of that in. I really liked how many contradicting narratives the book holds about what the 70s counterculture meant and what it could do, particularly for women, and how boldly the characters put their arguments across and live them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Classism
thisisstephenbetts's review against another edition
4.0
Really a 4.5 — really interesting portrait of 60s-80s New York, highlighting how social mores have changed in that time. Very engaging, very readable, and I really liked the structure. My main complaint about this is that the main characters is mostly uninteresting, with little spirit or drive. The people around her are the real stars. Interstingly (maybe) I was watching Yellowjackets at the same time as reading this, and with its similar teen / adult split narrative I couldn't help but picture the main character, Georgette, as Shauna from Yellowjackets. It covers a lot of ground, but the main story theme is the struggle of someone from a privileged background struggling to fight for social justice, rejecting her privilege — I felt this was conveyed and explored very effectively. The almost monomaniacal focus, and destructiveness that entails, reminded me of The Moon & Sixpence.
(Also have no recollection of how I came to be reading this book — recommendation? mentioned in an article?)
(Also have no recollection of how I came to be reading this book — recommendation? mentioned in an article?)
katzreads's review against another edition
Don't remember a thing about it, but it was on a list of "Favorite Books" that I created in 2009.