ladybug

“There is a poverty that makes us all cruel.”

The NYT best book of the century follows the lives and friendships of two girls– Lenu and Lena– who came from a small, impoverished town in Naples. The first book details their lives as children in school from ages 6–17.

The friendship between the two girls are complex. There is fierce competitiveness and jealousy between them but also, a tender, enduring kind of love and care. Most of all, I think this book is an exploration of what happens when children grow up in a cycle of violence and poverty, how kind little boys are made into raging misogynists and intelligent little girls are made into victims.

I can see why this book was named the best book of the century. I finished it quickly and I plan on reading the rest of the series this year. Kind of a spoiler but the last line of the book made me so impossibly sad I had to sit in a long, solemn contemplation after it ended.

A beautiful and haunting story about class difference, the cycle of violence, and a sick and twisted obsession. It was definitely a challenging book to get through but it was worth every minute.

A thrilling and gripping tale. I'm so glad Maxim de Winter & the second Mrs de Winter took each other off the marriage market so we are spared from encountering these two freaks on Hinge.

“ ‘A little girl shouldn’t have to worry about her entire family,’ Grandpa says to me one afternoon….

‘What?’ I ask, not because I didn’t hear what he said, but because I’m confused. Of course a little girl should worry about her entire family. That’s what little girls do.”

McCurdy’s memoir was heartbreaking and vulnerable, detailing her experience as a child actress with a narcissistic mother and working with creepy producers. It really exposed me to true evils in the world, aka her mother, who basically gave her a lifelong struggle with eating disorders. Despite the depressing content, the memoir was also filled with humour and a fascinating insight to the workings of tv productions.

I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by McCurdy herself, and I cannot recommend it more. Her reading it added a layer of emotions and reflection to the writing.

The three star is attributed to how although I had a good time listening to it, ultimately, it was a forgettable book.

"...Because wherever I sat– on the deck of a ship or at a street cafe in Paris or Bangkok– I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air.”

I find it difficult to review this book. While it's objectively a beautifully-written modern classic, it's not the kind of good you feel good reading. I find the subject matter it discusses meant I needed to take long breaks in between finishing the book. Read it if you’re doing well mentally but if you’re not, skip it.

Esther is a complex main characters with ideas well ahead of her time. Her fierce intellect and ideals only made her conditions more tragic. It made me especially sad to know that although Esther survives her attempts and the book ended on a brighter note, Sylvia Plath herself ultimately was not able to recover from her illness.