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301 reviews for:

This book was incredibly complicated in ways I didn't expect - it's all about the ways we construct our identity and how others perceive us, and the images and efforts involved in that process. Lots of characters, some of whom don't necessarily seem to fit. But some of the book - which was written in 2001 - seems eerily prescient, especially regarding international terrorism and the fashionable trend of reality TV.

kibird's review against another edition

2.0

sort of fell apart at the end, but in a compelling way. wish there were half stars - a 2.5, for sure.

hsuperstarfitness's review against another edition

1.0

challenging reflective 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

Look At Me by Jennifer Egan

First off, I hate the content of underaged s$x. I understand some topics need to be put out there for the world to see. But there’s a time and a place for everything. But I can kind of see the appeal of this novel. It’s saying how things and situations can change people. Or not.

The characters though are so poorly constructed. You don’t get past it. Firstly, naming both of the mc the same name? Come on! Not only that, but there was almost no growth to the characters, all except one and that’s barely. I don’t feel like the novel ended correctly, although it ended about as good as the author set it up for.

“I guarded what truths I possessed because information was not a thing - it was colorless, odorless, shapeless, and therefore indestructible.”

Didn’t like this story at all. Was a slow read. Left me confused the whole time all the way to the end. Giving this one out of five stars. ⭐️ because it wasn’t absolutely trash. Just the story. And the characters. And the underaged things.

bookward's review against another edition

2.75

reflective 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

cshelton002's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

dembury's review against another edition

2.0

Content warning: This review has tons of spoilers, and mentions rape and underage relationships.

This is going to be a pretty unstructured and ranty sort of review, sorry about that, but I just wanted to blab my thoughts on this book.
First, I thought the writing style was really the only great thing about this book. Egan has a very sharp yet descriptive way of writing and I truly enjoyed that. The only other thing I liked about this book was the snappy, snarky bits of dialogue, mostly from Charlotte Swenson. (The 2 stars I'm giving to this book are purely for the writing) But that was later ruined for me because Charlotte is a god-awful human and I went from really liking her to basically despising her. And it's not because of her "lying" personality that she brags about; it's because she's written as getting a happy ending after doing all kinds of awful things, including but not limited to raping Detective Holladay. That was seriously a f-ed up scene and I'm pissed that Charlotte got to have her happy ending after all that. I know there are people who will argue that her ending wasn't happy because she had to "sell" her identity, but listen: she sold her name willingly and eagerly, gots a TON of money from it, and got to start her life over, which is something she really wanted. She got to escape all the celebrity of her life, and for Charlotte, that was a happy ending.
Additionally, the awful relationship between the other young Charlotte and Michael West is never condemned or taken care of. I understand that Charlotte was the one who pursued the relationship and wanted to have sex, but that still doesn't excuse the fact that West never has to face the consequences of his actions. He literally gets to skip off to LA and go make movies or whatever, and there are no repercussions for him.
Okay and lastly, wtf was up with Moose? At first, I kind of felt for him, but as his narrative went on it just seemed to spiral out of control and made less and less sense. I read "Look at Me" in a college class of mine and lots of people were going on about how "deep" and "thought-provoking" Moose was, but I'm like ???? No ??? He's a pretentious dipwad who thinks he's smarter than everyone else? I'm also super over his whole "oooohh, I don't use technology so ClEArLY I'm Smarter and more Wise than all you dummies". lol give me a break.
The only character I ended up caring even a little about what Ellen, and she didn't even get a proper ending to her narrative! -_-
okay, that's the end of my rambling review. I originally just passively gave this book 3-stars but thought about it again and realized how annoying and problematic it was. Would not recommend this book.