The Companion

This book is pretty short — only 240 pages — and was part of an experiment where I was reading descriptions of random books from countries I’d never explored before, choosing the ones that caught my attention.

The Companion caught my eye with its intriguing description and the fact that the author studied psychology, so I was expecting something interesting and insightful. Instead, it became my biggest disappointment of 2023.

To be honest, the description is more beautiful and deeper than the book itself.

Why did I give it such a low score?

First of all, it was really hard to read due to chaotic writing — maybe it was the fault of the translation, but either way, it is what it is.

Second of all, the book is absolutely empty: no idea, no lesson, nothing. And the description has nothing to do with the actual content.

Third of all, all the characters are one-sided — only negative traits, no personal growth, even though the description seemed to promise otherwise.

Fourth of all, the book has a lot of weird scenes. I’d rather not comment on that any further.