Reviews

I think this just became my favorite book this year, but it definitely won’t be that for everyone. The writing has issues in some areas and then is positively brilliant prose in other parts. It is filled with a morbidity and a dark sense of humor. It includes many grotesque descriptions in a slice-of-life style. It’s gross and disturbing. But also, it is strange, sometimes disturbing, and has an odd quirkiness. Th main character is a budding taxidermist whom learned her trade from her suicidal father. After he kills himself, she and her entire family and enveloped into a gray and dark cloud. They have a hard time relating to one another and finding a way to emerge from the gloom that is their lives. The structure of jumping back and forth from present to past flashbacks is part of the juxtaposition of the two central storylines. In my opinion, this was a brilliant way to provide the backstory for Jessa and her family and to establish the beginning of their joint grief from the abandonment by Brynn. Both stories are critical to the character development — building the their modes of operation and blending it into where they are now, in the aftermath of her father’s death. There is no transition, and the ugly structure adds to the ugliness of the book, giving the reader a sense of how dark and ugly grief can be. It is ugly, it is reciprocal, it is redundant and repetitive. And while these aspects of this story have been heavily criticized, I felt the intention of them as literary choices and style to help convey the mindset of these characters. While not all of the writing is strong, I felt that this was one of the best literary tools applied. However, it does drag out the story too long and too much so the plot is way too slow and then feels rushed at the end when Jessa and her family make a change and find new hope. I do think this would make an excellent book for group discussion in the classroom or in your local book club. I really liked how the author told an LGBTQ story with LGBTQ characters and was able to execute that within a traditional family structure without it feeling forced or unnatural. The bottom line is that this felt like a regular family living a regular life and dealing with regular love and loss.

frathousereads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

sundriedangel's review against another edition

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4.0

The end felt a little rushed but overall one of the most engaging stories I’ve ever read

readingwmiles's review against another edition

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4.0

i feel bad that this took me so long to finish, but i really enjoyed this one. so messy and heart wrenching. also soooo inspirational to my own writing!

brendow's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

_csharp's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

imaginaryalex's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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