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martydah's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
iddylu's review against another edition
1.0
While I liked some of the individual bits ("Deliver My Darling from the Power of the Dog" was by far my favorite chapter), and the surface-level plot was interesting (a woman dealing with both grief over her brother, who went missing when they were children, and with the way she's viewed and treated because of her size), this book as a whole just didn't work for me. I definitely don't think Wells is a bad writer - quite the opposite - and her turns of phrase are creative and well-done. It's just that she crams in so many of them that they quickly lose their punch. For me, interesting metaphors and long, flowery sentences are best when they're used sparingly. When they show up in nearly every sentence, they distract; it's oversaturation. That plus a highly surrealist narrative structure means that it just wasn't for me.
danilanglie's review against another edition
3.0
This was... a weird one. I really liked it. I think. When I finished this book, I had that great moment that you get at the end of a good book where you put it down and let the experience wash over you, but I had mixed feelings. It's intricately written, and it refuses to conform to any one aspect. I think the reason I'm not rating it higher is because it's trying to do two things: tell a coherent narrative, and explore big ideas about body vs. soul, belief in God, the human condition, etc. etc. And sometimes the latter came along and ate up the former. I was actually interested in the story being told, the point A to B of it all, and there were definitely moments when I was frustrated by the lack of coherence.
But that lack of coherence was intentional, and maybe actually helped to drive the message home... so... gosh, I just don't know. I'm definitely glad that I read it, but I don't know if I would necessarily recommend it.
But that lack of coherence was intentional, and maybe actually helped to drive the message home... so... gosh, I just don't know. I'm definitely glad that I read it, but I don't know if I would necessarily recommend it.
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