francesmthompson's Reviews (976)

Funny in places and encouraging and empowering overall, while it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, it did remind me of things I needed to be reminded of.

Dark, disturbing and a little sluggish for the first half. The second half is just as dark and disturbing, but goes at twice the speed. I'm not sure this novel deserves all the hype it's getting - and I'm deeply uncomfortable of it being about a teenage girl who is brutally raped and abused by her father, and yet it is written by a man (call me sexist but that is just a bit off for me) - but it's definitely worth considering if you aren't put off by uncomfortable scenes and human suffering... which apparently I'm not which is now a little yep, dark and disturbing.

A gently told tale that is based on a helluva lotta research but this didn't totally overwhelm the book. I found it lacking in pace sometimes and perhaps it was a bit too gently told, and the main character felt a bit flat at times, but I kept going and I certainly found the ending very moving. Great to read if you live in Amsterdam or the Netherlands too!

Wanted to love it but found it a bit underwhelming with nothing startling or new (as a freelance creative writer for 6+ years), but it was easy to read and will look forward to passing on to someone new to the game!

**3.5 stars**

Sucked in by the hype and while I really, really, really, really enjoyed the story I felt a bit let down because

Spoiler

I could see the twist coming a mile off even though the author tried again and again to hide it

and this rather dampened my overall impression. That said I thought it was originally done and I learnt A LOT about pacing from reading this story which I know is such a writery thing to say.

Man I wanted to love this bookk because of everything it represents and the attention it has given to such worthy, vitally important issues none of us should be ignoring, however, I sadly didn't love it. I found it long and a little cumbersome at times with a lot of telling not showing. The author's afterword read so swiftly and entertainingly that I wonder if the editing process didn't mess with the originality of this story because I just found it a bit heavy with stereotypes and predictability at times. That said, it's a good thing this book exists and that it is being read and applauded.