NOTE: last time I had checked up on the “lore” behind this book and its author, people were debating whether or not this series is a memoir or fictional, or a blend of both. In my mini review below I view it as something fictional, although I do believe if anything it’s a blend of real life events and fictionalized events.
I remember first hearing about this series when it was blowing up on YouTube and on TikTok and I picked up the first book because it seemed like something that was right up my alley: slice of life, coming of each story centred around female friendship and growing up in Europe– something where the atmosphere and the characterization took over any sort of major plot. I read the first book about a year ago and absolutely loved it but knew that I had to take a break because the first book was just so dense. But I finally picked up the second book about a month ago and it took me this long to finally finish it, and now I can share my thoughts with everyone!
Whereas the first novel centred around the childhood of Lenu and Lila, this book focusses on their teenage and moving into adult life. The tone of this book is really what got me in the beginning — it flows so organically from the direction the first book was headed in. I couldn’t even be mad that it’s a lot more somber than the first book, because that’s kind of where their adult lives were set up from the first novel. This book delves a lot more into the societal expectations of “what it means to be a woman” in Naples at the time and how people viewed Lila and Lenu’s life choices as they got older. Seeing both of them go down different paths makes complete sense from a storytelling perspective, and the way that they grow together and at the same time grow apart is very relatable. The way that Ferrante conveys the inner emotions of each character makes you completely empathetic to them, even when they’re acting against one another or doing what are objectively unspeakable and quite cruel things. In this way, she paints a vision of adulthood that is ultimately a game of survival and a point of confusion.
I will say, I understand why this book wasn’t as popular as the first, or at least didn’t get as much coverage. It takes the beautiful story about friendship and shows the reader what happens when you walk down two different paths in life, and how that can tear friends apart. Some of it is tragic, but all of it is understandable because you see where each character is coming from, and seeing their motivations move them down different paths in life makes it a very enjoyable read, if not heavy. I think it stemmed perfectly from where the character left off in the previous book. My only qualm with it is that, much like the last book, it was incredibly intricate which made it a very long journey even though it’s only around 400 pages. Took me over a month to finish, which did make it feel like it was dragging a bit. I’d definitely recommend it to people that enjoyed the characterization of the first one, but are ready for something a bit more pensive and mature in terms of theming. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
by penguin-47284