Just finished My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Should have read this way sooner. I’m just glad all the rest of the series is out so I can run to my local library to get the next one (and the next two), otherwise that last-page last-paragraph cliffhanger would be brutal. So glad I picked this one up after seeing an avid reader finishing it and giving it higher rating than usual.

I loved the emotionally nuanced storytelling of these two young women and I think it’s skillful contrast by the author how Lila, as clever and capable as she is, is still sort of willingly confined to her community whereas Elena is more ordinary textbook smart (and maybe less money/business-oriented) but wants to carve a path out of her “pleb” upbringing. I think this is such a beautiful novel of realistic characters — no one is a cliche — and I hope every fictional novel I read after this gives me this level of admiration for the storytelling 😭