My Brilliant Friend (My Brilliant Friend, #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jun 12, 2016 Kara rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction

Lots of buzz on this first of four books, but I am not as sold on it as everyone else seems to be. On the one hand, for the first two thirds of the book I found the plot slow and the characters annoying, and it put me in a bad mood. On the other hand, I wanted to continue reading, and the pace did pick up in the final third. So, to me that means the writing and translation work are good (the latter sparked an interesting anthropological conversation between me and book club partner).
I realize a ...more

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Apr 05, 2017 s_evan rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: book-group-books, fiction, audio-version

Once I got over the hump of getting into the book (on the second try, this one for reading group), and switched to the audible version, I really enjoyed it and could finally see what the fuss is about. I don't recall reading a book where a friendship - and the competition, adoration, dislike that comes along with a strong friendship - is so throughly explored, all while set in 1950s Naples. I couldn't bring myself to give this 4 stars, as the book does not fully stand on its own; it is clearly p ...more

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Nov 22, 2018 Loretta rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, reading-for-craft

Holy wow. Yes. The hype all true. Gorgeously written, meticulously crafted and detailed. The story of a friendship within a community and a richly depicted world. So good. On to volume 2 right now.

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Feb 10, 2017 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, euro-fiction, italy

People raved about this book to me, and it was good. It had moments of subtly profound insight into female friendships, I think, but I'm not quite sure, because I'm not sure if I've ever really had a female friendship like this. Is it normal to feel really jealous of a close female friend? I don't know. Maybe others can supply some evidence one way or the other. I expected to identify with it more than I did, and that's one reason it only gets 4 stars. I also couldn't make Lila into a real perso ...more

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