>>24743026
I'm only on book 2, but I'm starting to get into it after finding the first book dull.
It's kind of chick lit though - lots of just describing events and relationships very straight-forwardly, though the characters are much more sharply observed than the usual crap. Its strength, so far, is being so long that you can see the characters unfold and grow gradually over time. I'm starting to get immersed.

They're written by a man

Wow, they said the exact same thing about all 4 books? Truly amazing :^)

>>24743026
I think I understand women Better After Reading this. The ending gave me chills. Unironically one of the best friendships ever written.

>>24743056
I don't think that makes it chick-lit at all - plain prose doesn't always need that label.

Anyway, I only read the first one: opening section is a really strong childhood recollections piece that seems to be setting up the sequels, then it jumps to a sort of social novel of the Neapolitan underclass thing. The first part is genuinely brilliant, but didn't resolve, the second part is just good, not special.

>>24743361
It's a pretty feminine point of view though - the constant social maneuvering and awareness of a subtle hierarchy, fretting over minor behavioral cues and the meaning behind them, the empathy and solidarity between women that's easily cast aside during a betrayal only to come roaring back later, the resignation to being secondary characters even within their own story - is very recognizable but also completely alien to me.

It's always kind of funny to me how threads that ask posters to actually talk about books sink like a stone.