Brian

Wildly Disappointing

Revisado: 03-27-25

With any dystopian and speculative fiction, it’s always necessary to suspend disbelief to some degree, but there are too many reality gaps for this book to be impactful. [light spoilers] First, it’s set in the USA, which has the highest infant mortality rate in the industrialized world. To believe that the federal government would spend millions upon millions of dollars for a program to improve the lives of children is laughable. The main conceit of the book is that Child Protective Services has too much money and power. They have millions of dollars to set up an elaborate surveillance system targeting wayward parents, a whole training camp for moms (with a huge staff), and a fleet of lifelike robotic dolls. That’s hilarious. The tipping point for me came in chapter 7 when a character (for whom the reader is supposed to feel sympathy) referred to social workers as “n*zi adjacent.” That’s such a wild misunderstanding of where power is actually located in our society that no amount of good writing, strong character development, or solid narration can save this train wreck of a novel.

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surprisingly great narration

Revisado: 10-26-24

I'm usually staunchly opposed to novelists reading their own books. This is a notable exception. She doesn't have the full range of VA, but I can't imagine anyone else reading it. This was a remarkable book that I'll think about for a long time.

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A Little Shade

Revisado: 04-17-18

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I really wanted to like this book. It has a number of positive qualities. Cassara gives voice to queer and trans Latinx experiences typically excluded from popular fiction. It also has a strong sense of time and place, much more so than A LITTLE LIFE (a book to which this one is frequently compared). Yet, it lacked a compelling plot. I finished out of a sense of obligation, not because the story moved me forward.

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not a grand political statement, but that’s okay

Revisado: 04-17-18

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I loved this book’s subtlety. Its strength rests on the questions it refuses to answer. Can feminism overcome its generational differences? Are newer waves of feminist thought and action doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past? Is Faith Frank a sellout or a realist? I read several reviews of this book after finishing it and many of the reviewers seemed to fault it for its lack of a ham-fisted political message (and I’m not sure reviewer from Jezebel even read the book at all). Wolitzer is an expert at world-building and character development. I felt deeply invested in the fates of Greer, Faith, Cory, and Zee, even though not a lot happened in terms of plot twists and drama. The narration was excellent, especially the rendering of Faith Frank. If you enjoyed THE INTERESTINGS you’ll get a lot out of THE FEMALE PERSUASION, just don’t expect it to make any grand revelations about feminism or contemporary politics.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Leaving a Doll's House, again

Revisado: 02-24-18

This novel was powerful, quiet, and more than the sum of its parts. I enjoyed it more knowing some of the biographical background for the first section. As another reviewer noted, the first part can be hard to follow because of the insertion of other texts and perspectives (and maybe the narrator could have offset these sections better), but you'll figure it out all right. It took me a couple of hours to get into this novel, but it was worth it.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

like a really depressing Lake Wobegone

Revisado: 02-20-18

Great stories (but is it a novel?) Strout conveys a lot a emotions in very short spaces. I didn't care for the narrator. Half of her characters sounded like Katherine Hepburn from On Golden Pond.

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On par with Goon Squad

Revisado: 02-13-18

Amazing! Didn't want it to end. Warren is an excellent narrator (don't believe otherwise). I'm not sure why others had problems with the narration. The protagonist is suppose to be a little hard to take and Warren conveyed that very well. Her shifts between Charlotte's first-person perspective and Egan's third-person voice were masterful.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona