Reviews

Lola Bensky by Lily Brett

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I was apprehensive with the 3.3 average rating but I couldn't put this book down. I read it from cover to cover in one evening. I found the writing was simple, light, easy to get through but the content was surprisingly profound and at times almost disturbing. I found it to have a great balance of depth and simplicity. The non-linear timeline, the idiosyncratic main character, and the basis in Lily Brett's own life make this a great read, in my opinion. Sometimes Lola Bensky's weight obsession became dull to read about but it was self-aware and obviously purposeful.

trombosenjose's review against another edition

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3.0

2,5/5
war immer wieder sehr gelangweilt

zeldamay93's review

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2.0

This was written quite poorly and I couldn’t get into it. Somehow for a third person narrative it was self-centred.

cheyenneisreading's review against another edition

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2.0

While this novel had some good parts, a fair bit of the work felt... strange. I don't really know how to describe it but some of the ways that Lola would talk just seemed unrealistic. Prehaps people talk like she does, I don't know. I enjoyed the Holocaust facts but the way she included them just didn't feel natural. I appriciate her story of being born in terrible conditions and the inclusion of her familys life. I felt that, having not included these real and devestating events, the book would have fallen into a lesser catagory.

leoniee_04's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

susannes_pagesofcrime's review against another edition

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2.5

Disappointing, there is some really good writing here but I found a lot of it to be quite depressing. There is a lot of jumping around in time that didn’t really add any value in my opinion.

antidietleah's review against another edition

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1.0

So, I received this book for free from the Goodreads First Reads program... back in October. It is now June. I have picked this book up at least a dozen times over the last 7 months and it could never hold my interest but I felt obligated to finish and review it. My god is it depressing, and a bit A.D.D. and definitely not entertaining in any way. The writing style was horrific and pretty much made me want to gauge my eyes out. Lola Bensky is an Aussie journalist that interviews rock stars, basically. She's the child of Auschwitz survivors, obsessed with dieting, and entirely unsure of herself. She's quirky, has bizarre experiences, and is incapable of being concise. I'm sure someone out there would find this amusing but that someone isn't me. Dear. God. So thankful to be done.

anniea89's review against another edition

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3.0

Pauvre Lola.

Lola Bensky is the only child of two Holocaust survivors, navigating the murky waters of rock journalism as a young woman in the 1960s. This makes for a compelling and slightly odd narrative which I actually found to be very enjoyable.

My only complaint with the novel is that the dialogue is sometimes too stiff and stilted, making it a little unnatural to be believable. Some of the musicians Lola interviews speak in the same formal one and manner as she does which didn't really make sense to me.

However, perhaps Lily Brett uses the interviews between these real-life rock icons (such as Jagger, Cher and Hendrix) as a way for Lola to explore her parents' past and understand their motives. If that's the case, then the dialogue functions as a sort of stream of consciousness, or Lola's own therapy sessions. After all, she has to come to terms with her own demons and those of her family- who better to talk through these issues than with Mama Cass and Janis Joplin?