Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Vladimir

Immensely captivating with a disappointing & rushed ending. Gives ‘I Love Dick’ by Chris Kraus energy 3❤️‍🔥

NB Personally disagreed with 90% of the protagonists’ thoughts & actions + her critiques of feminism, consent & cancel culture in a post me too era - but worth reading.

Content Warnings

beneduck's review against another edition

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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

1.25

there's no super clear spoilers in here, but definitely strong allusions. proceed with caution.
major TW for eating disorders, substance abuse, suicide, sexual assault
----

After immediately finishing here are my thoughts. The protag has horribly inconsistent psychology. Her actions and reactions make no sense compared to how she is in other parts of the story. This carries over to how Vladimir acts (thinking or a specific chair incident!) and it just pissed me off! The ending was too clean and resolved. So unbelievable.
Also!! the protag will not shut the fuck up about her body and eating habits, which i found really upsetting at times. she's obsessed with appearing younger, skinnier, "healthier". for tons of other reasons, i hate her and i don't enjoy hating her, which takes most of the fun out of this book.
i found the dustjacket summary soooo misleading -- as well as the super sexed-up cover. this is NOT
" Propulsive, darkly funny, and surreptitiously moving," it's horrific, glorifying, and disheartening. the protag makes light of her students' worries about potential sexual assault and deals with the whole husband thing in a spineless manner and never seems to form her own concrete opinions -- really about anything. even her "obsession" with vladimir in the first half consists of daydreaming about sex with him -- hardly an obsession, more aptly named a crush. i was excited for a dark and sexy book, and i got one that was uncomfortable in a way that wasn't productive.

re: the chair scene: "I let her lead me to the scene, not sure if this event would actually happen. I love characters who do something questionable on an impulse and then must deal with the consequences." it sure as hell was impulsive -- but it felt like she was acting on some other character's impulse and not her own. our darling protag has yet to feel capable of something like she does, and when she does it, it feels horrific instead of exciting.

re: the author's treatment of sexual misconduct: "I still feel connected to a sense of sexuality as a form of freedom and as something that can be used against you. Protectiveness about sexuality, making sexuality feel traumatic or disturbing, can be used as a way to wield power over female sexuality. And that was something that was much more prevalent about the sexual politics of when I was in college and growing into adulthood. It was really about taking down all of those taboos." i! do! not! like! these! implications! it's not fair for me to disagree with an author's stance as a reason for not liking a book, but the treatment of sexual boundaries in this book is sickening. simply put, what was attempted as a reclamation of aged female sexuality is actually just attempted assault. to be the reader seeing this through a first person narrator was so unpleasant, and, yet again, not in a productive manner.

booooo!! this went from a fun hate read to a capital-H hate read. this prof works (or used to work? unsure) at my college. i hope i see her so i can try to make amends.

Content Warnings

rebeccajolley74's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

itsme_lori's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense slow-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

1.5

Content Warnings

meggles's review against another edition

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challenging reflective 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

2.0

Content Warnings

auudrey's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.25

Content Warnings

psychedelicize555's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

1.0

Truly a terrible book. Ever wanted to read a book filled with all the critical comments your mother made about her body in front of you when you were eleven? Then this book is for you! Insufferable main character, hell bent on simultaneously fawning over and criticising her pervert husband. You know how people say your partner is a reflection of your worst qualities? These two are like gigantic (pervy) mirrors. Add in a creepy infatuation with a forty year old college lecturer that is either informed by a legitimate flirtation on his behalf or just evidence of delusion on her behalf - you have a droll, irritatingly male-centred (dare i say obsessed / infatuated) novel. The main character is so indecisive it makes me want to rip my hair out. She is so insecure and never fails to pit her ageing body against an unknowing younger woman’s body. Can’t women just exist? She’s a failed critical feminist, intent on coming across that way but every fibre of her being proves otherwise. Without spoilers, the ending is so uncreative it feels almost offensive that I was forced to read so much only to be (could you even call it this) rewarded with such a miserable conclusion. Sorry JMJ - nothing against you. Maybe we just don’t need a book about 2 insecure boomers projecting their weird fucking lives onto younger people? I really don’t know what the point of this book was.

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