Incredible

Raw, honest, relatable, parts of it at the very least, well written. I won‘t lie, I powered through this book to rid myself of the level of toxicity. I wouldn‘t read it again because of this. But yet, what a naked account of human vulnerabilities, of life stories, of love. I don‘t read romance and I embarked on this after reading many reviews labelling it an ‘anti-romance‘. I now disagree, for it is a romance, albeit a sad one. Love gone wrong.

I fell in love with this book slowly, I got used to the unpretentious, clean writing and I increasingly struggled to put it down. The easy writing, modest almost, goes along with the stories told by women who had to be quiet, ordered around, used and abused. I have wished for more descriptive parts, to enable the mind to see the sceneries, the sunrises, the sunsets, the hills, the shores, the indoors. This would have made the book richer for me.

A wonderfully written comprehensive account of the arguments against using and abusing non human animals. A book that appeals to reason rather than emotions and that employs emotive language minimally. The philosophy visited throughout the book is made accessible and digestible to all. I am in awe of this book and of Peter Singer‘s writing and dedication to the cause of animals rights. I hope enough of us will have the open mind to read it.

I am in awe of this book and its author‘s lyrical writing. The ease with which I have been taken through stories, past and present, the descriptions that simply paint photos for how evocative and detailed they are, the layers of history, countries‘, families‘ histories and personal ones. Such an incredible read.

No, not the great read most describe this book as.
An uncomfortable one, with half empty stories and characters. The writing style is not my favourite but has some decent stretches. It‘s a very ‘back and forth‘ narrative that after a while starts to be just repetitive and leaves the reader begging for some original developments. The end could have provided this but it is just as dry.

I got to the end of this book only to seal the disappointment, mainly about the way the ideas are presented. I was hoping to meet more psychological theories in the book, but that‘s on me. The content could be covered in half of the pages, the presentation of different ‘stories‘ with examples, diagnosis (was this language needed?) and roles is formulaic and repetitive. 100% of the couples presented are middle class heterosexual.