A dark, slimy longing journey of womanhood

Trigger warning-- the fantasy and forlon around rape / graphic murder scenes in several depictions and miscarriage.
Even though other readers had warned me of the content this book journeys on, I had to try it for myself. I took many pauses if I felt triggered or heightened with emotion. Taddeo's first novel 'Three Women' was so spectacular in prose and character, it reeled me into her darkness in this story.
It's a tale broody with desperation, longing and lack. Slimy, self depreciating and ghostly, the characters play of each other's loneliness and burdens, all a bit lost, because they've experienced loss. Prose was once again brilliant. But I suggest being in a balanced state of mind before entering this content.

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One of the most astonishing books of 2021

The narrative is seamless, a book I wanted to never end. Characterisation so finely tuned.

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Far too long and sensational

I may have liked this book if it was a more abridged version. We read it for book club and it is going to be a tough one to discuss due to the graphic nature of the content, which I felt was mostly unnecessary and designed to shock rather than add to the story. Despite this, I didn’t find it shocking as it almost went too far into the ridiculous.

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Incredible

The story is vibrant and intense. For me, a page turner from start to finish. Great voice reading it. Overall - outstanding piece.
I also ended up really liking the main character.

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Love this book

I love all Lisa Taddos books. Sometimes really hard to read but always make me think about them months after

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Dark, well written

Emma Roberts’ reading of this dark story made it worth staying until the end.

The story went too far in places - the wolves scene and the murder…. Jumped the (dark) shark to demonstrate how “depraved” Joan was. For that reason, I would be embarrassed to recommend the book to anyone - which is a shame because I found Joan compelling until then.

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4 people found this helpful

A story of fragile desperation, revenge & the search for connection.

Which doesn’t sound like a load of laughs but if that’s what you want then go for Marianne Keyes! This was a visceral, disturbing journey by an extraordinary writer who understands the complex minds & lives of women (as we also saw in her brilliant “Three Women”). A story of a child psychologically damaged by a violent episode in her childhood which stunts her ability to feel love & so she goes through womanhood taking on the role of the abuser & the abused. Sex is an important thread in this book and written in an original way revealing the main character’s dark thoughts that maybe we all have harbouring within our shadow side. Really, it’s all about the giving away and taking back of power & control in ones relationships. An important study on this and how a damaged child never really heals without help and love. But at the end of this sad & tough tale, this beautiful woman comes to understand the greatest love of all.…… I cried but would not have missed this experience. Only recommend to those who are interested in the depths of depravity in which some may be forced to sink…..

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Good book, weird pronunciation

Enjoyed the book. Good portrayal of feminine rage and love. The narrator's pronunciation of certain words was quite off putting. "Shone" kept being pronounced as "shown." strange!

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Good narration but slow story until midpoint.

I was both intrigued and excited by the very brief summary for this book, but in reality, apart from the first initial lines, I got to about halfway through before I started to enjoy it... Although 'enjoy' feels like the wrong word to use for this book's dark content. Perhaps to say I got more invested in the story line is a better way to put it.
The story is written from the perspective of someone telling their life story, so you only really get to know the main character and her train of thought on how she handles murder and suicide of those she has loved, her sexual encounters and how she uses and is used by many men throughout her life.
From the midpoint, the 'grenades' that Marian Keyes references on the cover start to go off. There are some deeply disturbing moments.
Definitely a book that should come with some trigger warnings and I would be very selective of who I would recommend this to for that reason.
On the narration, I thought that it was a fitting style for the content and story and the performance made the character quite believable.

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Spectacular.

Loved every minute if this. Narration was immaculate. Hearing the writer talk about where the subject material came from made sense of its utter realness- the heartbreak, pain, loss and love. Powerful.

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1 person found this helpful