*spoiler-free*
Abigail Bergstrom’s What A Shame tells the story of Mathilda and her struggle going through a difficult breakup and dealing with the death of a loved one. Concerned that Mathilda is not moving on, her friends suggest more unorthodox remedies.
What A Shame is very much a “sad girl” book, reminding me of other books like My Year Of Rest and Relaxation. It is quite a depressing read, with themes of grief, sexual assault, self-harm, and mental health. Bergstrom uses an interesting writing style as Mathilda is often addressing the death of her loved one or her ex-boyfriend, not the reader throughout the book. This did make the book quite difficult to follow as it was not clear who Mathilda was always referring to.
This book is not necessarily plot-driven, reminding me of Sally Rooney’s writing in the sense that a lot of the book consists of descriptions of the characters’ day-to-day activities. This is not a style that particularly appeals to me and so I found What A Shame boring in many places. This was also worsened by the many unlikeable characters within the book. It was hard to connect or find an attachment to any of the characters. Even where common experiences such as grief were mentioned, I didn’t feel like this was analysed as deeply as it should have been, especially due to the nature of the complexity of emotions that come with grief.
I did find that the second half of the book picked up, especially when a tiny part of romance was added to the book. However, I was disappointed that this was not explored further, despite it being hinted at earlier in the book. On the whole, I found the whole book quite odd; the combination of very serious themes did not match the underdeveloped characters (especially in Olivia’s case) and their development. Bergstrom appeared to only have touched the surface of what could have been a really complex, thought-provoking read.
I was disappointed that the main revelation in the book did not get the attention it deserved, which was frustrating as that is what the whole book seemed to lead up to. What A Shame is a short book and so relatively quick to get through, but unfortunately for me, the story was not for me.
1/5 stars
Soph's Library 