Mateo B’s Reviews > The Story of the Lost Child > Status Update

Had been trying to find a stopping point for the past 20 pages and then Ferrante wrote that soul crushing passage before the final section. My jaw dropped and I reread the page multiple times in shock thinking there’s no way I read that correctly. Don’t know if I’ve ever been so completely and utterly stopped in my tracks by a page of writing before. No words :(

I’ve watched a lot of movies and tv shows and read a lot of books featuring characters I hated. I’m not sure I’ve ever hated a character as much as I do Nino Sarratore. Whenever I see his name on a page I groan.

Elena Ferrante has this unbelievable knack for making you care about characters you don't like. I think it's due to the way she is able to humanize even the most horrible people. This past section involving Elena's mother has been a masterclass in evoking emotion.

I’ve been wondering who/what the title was referring to this whole time. A weird thing happened and I was like hmm that’s weird. I think I now know what is meant by the story of the lost child. Ferrante wth.

Ferrante is evil for this book. I’m sad. Crazy that Ferrante manages to shock me at the every chapter the same way she been doing since book 1.