Reviews

Therapist Victoria Vick tells the story of her most unusual patient. This story is told through the transcripts of sessions and notes sent to her editor as she has written a book about Y_. Y_ ; her patient has the ability to "cloak" himself, essentially rendering himself invisible. He uses this ability to watch others when they believe they're alone. As he opens up about voyeuristic exploits our main character Victoria begins to form an unhealthily attachment, somewhat of an obsession.

I loved the format this book was written in. The characters continuous decline in stability and likeability. I love a good book with unlikeable main characters and this one was especially interesting for a multitude of reasons.

clairebau's review

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reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Oh, wow! Okay. I liked reading this book. I think it's a good book. I think it was appropriately inquisitive and weird, which are things I like in a novel. I think my favorite part was how unlikeable the characters are. I mean, Y sucks a lot, but Vic (narrator) sucks nearly as much. It was cool that she tried to make excuses for her actions, and they were flimsy and undeveloped. She felt real. As did Y, whose dialogue at times viscerally reminded me of a wannabe-genius ex-boyfriend who threw a fit when he found out my ACT score was higher than his. This book reminded me of the fact that there's nothing more grating than speaking with a man who thinks he's smart (and who thinks that all people, particularly women, are beneath him).

Unfortunately, I think this book spent too much time explaining its existence in the fictional universe it "exists" in; I understand the whole meta pseudo-memoir thing and I usually like it, but Vic went out of her way to explain her narrative choices too much. It felt overexplained and drew more attention to the fact that this was a work of fiction, which felt counterintuitive. Whatever; I'm being nitpicky. Mostly good book! I would've liked if it was longer.

Content Warnings

dalefu's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a very enjoyable read. The premise is simple, and the plot is short and mostly predictable. Its real strength is the questions it inspires.

While reading this book, it subtly but masterfully prompts the reader to ask themselves some rather deep existential questions about how we define ourselves, how we define others, and the hypocrisy of that discrepancy.

Does privacy only matter if there are consequences to its invasion? Can we truly know anyone else? Can anyone truly ever know us? Is there even such a thing as a true self, or are we nothing but a collection of appropriate costumes? What does it mean to be seen, or are we all ultimately invisible? And if so, what does it mean to be happy?

While I may have some minor complaints about the plot itself, any book that manages to prompt these sorts of questions in me is an automatic winner.

abbeyhar103's review against another edition

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1.0

This is one of the worst novels I've ever read. There was no sense of who any of the character sere, or why they interacted with each other as they did. Any "personal touches" were just out of place pop culture references that chuck klosterman can't avoid putting in any of his writing.

boop123's review

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I kind of feel bad not finishing this lmaoo maybe I'm just not in the right headspace right now

somanybookstoread's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a quickie, and, like any Klosterman, had plenty to offer. It also worked well as an audiobook since much of the book was a back and forth between two characters. The actors were excellent. That said, the concept seemed contrived and as though an editor needed to say "well, it might work but I also think there's a good chance it's going to fall flat." It fell flat. But sure, it was worth a few days.

madihoney's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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