This is such a great book. All the characters drawn out in such complexity and depth, it was easy to remember who was who. It was 12 little life stories, which could have been novels themselves. I loved the way all the stories connected seamlessly. I bought a copy for a friend before I even finished it, because I liked it so much.

It was the true Booker winner and a great British novel. While the subject manner could be difficult to read, it was easy to glide through it. I cried (many times, especially at the end, such a great ending, perfect even) I laughed, I saw what she was doing and it made it even more meaningful. An enormous commentary on what it’s like to be black and a woman, and every variation of person, really. Thank you Ms Evaristo.

For some reason I was expecting this book to be more challenging in terms of writing style and more formal. The accessibility of the book and the way it captured my attention and imagination were a wonderful and unexpected surprise. This work is insighful and yes challenging but in a way which absorbs you into the lives and stories of all of the characters. The way this is structured with each chapter telling the story of a different character who is connected to all the rest was original and compelling. The stories of love, loss, pain, healing and struggle were unique and unpredictable.
The main thing I came away with from this work is that voice is a powerful thing - to be able to see a character or individual from the perspective of those in their life and then compare that to the individual's story told from their own point of view and in their own voice is such an important lesson for us all. An important reminder that what we see in others merely scratches the surface of their identity, experiences and lives - particularly in relation to those who belong to vulnerable minorities.
A powerful read and one that is informative as well as engaging.

I can see why the booker prize judges chose a joint winner this year, but if I was forced to choose I would choose Girl, Woman, Other over the Testaments. While I loved Margaret Atwood's latest offering, this book a much more satisfying read. The characters and their narratives left me wanting more and left me feeling invigorated.

A worthy winner of this year’s Booker Prize - this is a magnificent book that deserves to win every prize it’s eligible for!

Girl, Woman, Other shines a light on contemporary Britain in a way I’ve rarely seen in other books - other reviews have described it like a choir of different women’s voices, and I think that’s very accurate! It reads like a beautiful prose poem, with a cast of fascinating characters, all of whom have a story of either racism, prejudice, abuse, misogyny or poverty (often all of them) which they fight to overcome. The writing is so visceral and poetic - you are in these characters’ shoes, hearts, heads and beds. And you won’t forget them in a hurry.

I learned a lot reading this book, not just about issues I have been privileged not to experience firsthand but about humanity. This book is a perfect example of how fiction is often the perfect vehicle for the greatest concerns of our time.

My 100th book of the year - and one of my top books of 2019, without a doubt. Highly recommended!

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy.

This is a brilliant piece of writing and a well deserved joint Booker winner. But it is also an excellent piece of storytelling about women's lives - black women's lives. It reads like I'm sat in a pub or a cafe or a living room and listening in as someone unselfconsciously and without front just talks about their day and their life. There are twelve separate but interconnected stories of different women and the whole reads like a novel rather than short stories as the women seek fulfilment, answers and a better life. I learned a lot about black women's experience, about family, about caring for friends, and about emotional honesty but I also learned about writing and about how to tell a story. But this isn't preachy or "learned" - this is great work and great fun and I enjoyed it.

Ms Evaristo introduces us to a diverse range of voices and characters but holds us throughout by the strength of the narrative as we explore the polyphonic structure.

Recommended if you're getting a bit cynical about contemporary novel writing and need reassurance that the form is alive and well. And also if you just want to read a good story about a range of women who have a brilliant way of speaking their minds.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I received a free advanced reader copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.

I enjoyed the book which was quite unusual. There is no single main character, but instead the narrative follows the lives over decades of a group of predominantly women as they all converge on the opening night of a play. As well as an interesting story, it is also a window on how minorities have been accepted (or not) over the last century.

I enjoyed this account of intertwined women’s lives, and it was refreshing that they are all black. The narrative and lack of punctuation did take some getting used to. I think I expected too much because of it winning th Booker prize and wasn’t as enthralled as I hoped, but I am glad I did read it.

With all the hype, it could be easy to dismiss some aspects of this book, such as the stylistic devices, but I found the whole worked together wonderfully. Intriguing, intelligent without being patronising, diverse, and captivating in its storytelling - a great way to spend time.

Usually I would be a little apprehensive about reading a novel on the Booker Prize list, fearing that it would be too high-brow for me and not be enjoyable. But when Netgalley offered “Girl, Woman, Other” I was intrigued so took the plunge - and I’m so thankful that I did.

With this extraordinary book Bernadine Evaristo weaves a vibrant, vivid, striking tapestry full of details regarding the lives, loves and deepest thoughts of twelve women. They may not all be likeable but they are all finely stitched, believable and relevant. This is an engaging and important work, a well-deserved co-winner of the prestigious prize.

This must be the first Booker prize winning book I have really enjoyed. The style of prose, lack of punctuation etc had become the norm a couple of chapters in, and whilst I ultimately think that stylisation didn’t add anything to the book it certainly didn’t detract either.
I spent a great many chapters enjoying the writing, the characters, the stories but the lack of any kind of plot nagged at me. The interweaving of the characters though was exceptionally well done... and by the end without wanting to give spoilers I felt that a plot had actually been there all along.
A strong, strong voice in contemporary literary fiction. I enjoyed this a lot. A commercial Booker winner, who’d have thought?!!

I have mixed feelings about this book.

The lack of capital letters and punctuation was an issue, for me. After initially wondering if there was something wrong with my Kindle copy (which does happen), I then became frustrated wondering if the whole book would continue in this way (it does). I just don't really understand why authors do these gimmicky tricks, without having a very, very good reason. Maybe there was a good reason, and I missed it entirely, that's definitely possible! But honestly, why upset half your readership to begin with and make them feel like
a. they don't want to both reading the book.
b. they are possibly too stupid to be reading such a book.
c. the book is clearly a bid for a literary fiction prize.

Anyway.

I persisted. I'm glad I did, because at least I know what people are talking about. And there were some parts which were really, really good. Once I'd read about a quarter in I stopped being incensed about the punctuation, though I still did find it confusing sometimes as to what was going on, who was being talked about, where thing stopped and started.

It's loaded with characters, and jam-packed with diversity. Sometimes it did feel a little bit like a tick box exercise...one of those...then one of those...and so there were characters who I felt didn't quite ring true. They didn't always talk like real people. Quite often they were talking like a prize-winning book. But then other characters really came alive, and I found myself much more interested in their lives, and the snaking, swirling ties binding them all together.

The final ending to the story was great, just really good...I would have happily read an entire book based on that part of the story. So that's why I came away with mixed feelings, as I felt some of the writing was really good, but other parts just left me a bit cold, or cross. So, mixed feelings.

I wanted to read this out of interest since it has just won the Booker Prize jointly with Margaret Atwood.The first thing I noticed was the lack of proper punctuation. I thought I would get used to this unusual literary style but the more I read the more irritated I became with this format.It made it quite difficult sometimes to get the correct sense of the words since the sentence construction was missing.This often mean I had to re-read a passage to get the true sense of what was being said. Is this just an aberration on the part of the author or is there something I have missed in this style?Or maybe it gets the attention of the judges because of this presentation.?
I found the stories of the 12 different black women quite interesting and the ways their lives intertwined with each other was exceedingly well executed. These stories give a vivid account of black women’s heritage over the past few decades but it has taken me a big leap of faith that these women could have existed in the time scale given.
I did not enjoy the novel and am still wondering what makes a Booker Prize winner. Perhaps I have missed a basic point about the content of the book or perhaps it was just that I couldn’t relate to any of the characters.

I wanted to like this more than I actually did in the end. I struggled with the stream of consciousness style and the somewhat disparate stories - I've never been a fan of the short story generally as I prefer to stay immersed, so this is more a reflection of my preferences than the talent of the author. I read a review on Netgalley which described it at times as a game of 'woke bingo' and can't help agreeing. I felt guilty that I didn't connect, and who wants that?

Incredible. I can see why this book is an award winner. It’s fantastic to read great quality women’s fiction and know it is appreciated on a world wide stage

I found this so compelling to read. The style at first was a little strange, almost stream of consciousness, but it made the writing flow and took me with it. I loved the in-depth background to each of the characters and finding how they interlink. While at times each felt like quite separate chunks of story, I enjoyed how it all came together at the end and you discovered how all the characters fit together.

There was plenty in here that resonated with me as a female, but it also made me realise how fortunate I am not to have to deal with the additional challenges of being a person of colour in a predominantly white country.

I couldn't wait to read the next bit every night and would definitely recommend this.

I can't stress how much I adored this book. It's straight up there as one of my books of the year.

There are so many ways this book shouldn't work, but it absolutely does. It's really hard to describe without being incredibly off-putting, but there's no real plot, hardly any punctuation, sentences run into each other like a stream of consciousness and it spans a whole century while also being set entirely in one evening. Evaristo's prose, once you settle into it, is completely hypnotic. Having just finished it, I immediately want to start it again so I can spot all the connections and Easter eggs

I loved this book, although I was fully expecting to find it difficult/ worthy/ unreadable because of its recent success in the 2019 Booker Prize. Initially daunted by the lack of full stops and short groupings of phrases, I very quickly got into the rhythm and style of the writing, which genuinely carries you along with its enthusiasm, narrative and skill. It actually helps drive the reader's interest moving forward to the next character or situation. The book is woven from the loosely-connected lives of several women mainly from the present, but reaching back into the last century, exploring the histories and events that helped form their attitudes to life and love. They take us into very different worlds with backgrounds that are integral to their relationships with other characters and form the impetus of the novel. The richness and diversity are the joy of the book for me. This year's Booker judges have definitely done us proud!

This book dives into the stories of 12 loosely-connected characters, and brings them to life with considerable success. Each character felt distinct and convincing and elicited their own response from me, ranging from irritation to admiration. Most of the characters are black women, and the book extensively explores the issues they face in Britain - how they are weighed down and lifted up by race, class, gender, age. Each of these characters is alienated in some way, through malice and misunderstanding, from Britishness, family, friends and most tragically from themselves. It offers some hope for how to build a together in a time of alienation and divisiveness.

In the opening chapters the polemic hits you like a ton of bricks. There’s a striden,t sassy edge to the feminist view being shared. Racial, gender, sexual orientation, identity and cultural issues are also forcefully driven home. The author’s voice rings out loud and clear as the issues she discusses take centre place. No punches pulled. No attempt at subtlety whatsoever.

And then things change. Once the barrage of beliefs has bled out of her, she turns her writerly eye to the creation of story and better developed characters. Here I think she shines. Where the earlier chapters were overwhelmingly raw and robust, in the mid section we encounter a more reasoned rationale, with heightened emotion diffused through the lens of more fully fleshed characters we care about.

Individual stores help create a cohesive whole as they interweave and interlink. They add history, lend context and give substance to the framework of the book. But that thread gets tangled when the author appears to decide she hasn’t given due weight to transgender issues. There follows a rather political correctness pleasing account of Megan/Morgan which feels more like a tick box exercise than anything else.

However, this is redeemed by the tail end of the book, with a return to storytelling. I was particularly touched by Harriet and Grace’s stories which get the point across in a less heavy-handed way than before. It’s a confusing blend of strong opinion and irritating grammatical novelty, mixed with some compelling storytelling. I believe it succeeds best when it gets off its soapbox and simply relies on the power of a well told story.

Admittedly I first heard about Girl, woman, other when it jointly won the Booker prize and knew it was an anthology of stories. The first story from Amma is probably my least favourite, however all the others are so well written and interwoven I’m glad I stuck with it. Each one is so different and told from the narrators point of view, I like how the stories weave through time and bits of the puzzle fit together. A fascinating read.