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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
Clever and funny quick read. A truly awful protagonist, a narcissistic young woman who becomes obsessed with Treasure Island, spends her boss' savings on a parrot (which she then can't stand and is quite awful to), and treats her friends and family with self-obsessed contempt. Interesting send-up of the literature-as-self-help motif so popular lately, as well as a bit of a mash-up of Douglas Coupland and, say, Sophie Kinsella - the mind boggles.
The narrator is deeply unlikable and possibly a sociopath. She is a Millenial stereotype; indulged, entitled, lazy, over-educated and under-achieving, ect. But she is also more than that and because she is an unreliable narrator it's not completely obvious. So while I hated her I also found her intriguing and pitiful. The idea that adventure can be found at home and that the greatest adventures in life are more personal is a good one. I feel like it's the type of story that I will return to and think about.
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty
SO GOOD. I steadfastly refuse to get dragged into conversations about whether narrators need to be likable, but I will say that this is the most likable narrator in a long while, in my opinion. Read into that whatever you like. Hilarious and sharp and full of heart, even if you have to sometimes elbow our bold hero out of the way to to see it. Who is this author. Why doesn't she have more novels.
I'm sure that the reason I'm rating it poorly because I am too much like the protagonist.
The writing was very funny at times, thought I struggled a bit because I simply didn't like the protagonist. I guess I wish there had been some more obvious layers to her; you catch hints, especially toward the end, but I was left shaking my head so many times at how mean she could be. Well worth a read, though, and it's short and fast.
dark
funny
fast-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
This was insane!!! I can’t remember reading a crazier book. Funny!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Violence
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Are you a glutton for unlikeable narrators? Tired of tales that teach lessons? Do you often feel “big with book the way a woman feels big with child”? If so, check out Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine. Accompany its intrepid, viciously candid narrator into her single-minded obsession with a certain famous adventure novel, ill-fated employment at the local Pet Library, cultivation of the values of Boldness, Resolution, Independence and Horn-blowing, and self-induced spiral out of control. Be sure to order an extra helping of “Gratuitous Pancakes” because “it takes an awful lot of energy to give birth to oneself.”
It was fun rooting against her: horrible, horrible woman that she was. Lars don't do it!! Watch out Rena! Adrianna tell her nothing!