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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
slow-paced
dark
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a lovely book! I’ve got to say, the advertisement of the book was a bit misleading, so I was pleasantly surprised. I came into this book thinking it would be a kooky read just about a woman obsessed with her printer, but it was so much more. Her loneliness and connection with another object was so well written, and interspersing her guilt of a childhood act was an addition that truly added to the story.
The chapter “peer review” was surprising to me, and makes me want to talk to my printer more (not that I have one). I really enjoyed this addition, although I can imagine some people not liking it as it brought the story more far-fetched.
I enjoy the positive ending of new beginnings and shackles being free, I like to imagine that our main character found something she could find pleasure in and she didn’t fall into the same cycle of paranoia.
I do wish for the book to have explored the childhood story slightly more (I felt the story didn’t wrap up) and it also seemed her allergy was forgotten. As said above, I also wish she found something that brought her joy - although this is just a personal preference, rather than what impacted my score.
The chapter “peer review” was surprising to me, and makes me want to talk to my printer more (not that I have one). I really enjoyed this addition, although I can imagine some people not liking it as it brought the story more far-fetched.
I enjoy the positive ending of new beginnings and shackles being free, I like to imagine that our main character found something she could find pleasure in and she didn’t fall into the same cycle of paranoia.
I do wish for the book to have explored the childhood story slightly more (I felt the story didn’t wrap up) and it also seemed her allergy was forgotten. As said above, I also wish she found something that brought her joy - although this is just a personal preference, rather than what impacted my score.
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I picked this up in Oxfam because the front cover was so eye-catching. Overall I enjoyed it and it was a really quick read. The plot moves along smoothly and I kept feeling drawn back to the story.
It's not as weird and wacky as the blurb would have you believe. I liked the main character, who seemed lost in a very relatable way. The observations about Amsterdam and the locals' perspective of British tourists there were also funny, sad and interesting.
I loved the mentions of the office staff trying to be "woke", which were painfully awkward at points and rang very true.
However, some of the commentary did seem randomly thrown in at times, and while I thought a lot of it was very apt, some seemed needlessly self-pitying. The narrator sees herself as the bottom of the food chain which, while it may be true in an office setting, is a little near-sighted when you think of the wider world (which this character did in other respects). I couldn't help feeling that Fien Veldman also echoed these sentiments, especially considering the essay she won an award for before publishing this book.
I also didn't find the printer romance totally believable - the (unnamed, ugh) narrator constantly tells us she's in love with him and is meant to be portrayed as having an infatuation, but she goes for long stretches without even thinking about him. In fact, the whole book had a bit of a problem with telling instead of showing - the most glaring example to me was the constant repetition of "I'm having a panic attack, I'm about to have a panic attack, just had a panic attack", etc. Is there not a more interesting way to show us that the narrator is having a panic attack?
My favorite part by far was the section from the printer's point of view. It was quite out-there but very imaginative, and got me thinking about a lot of different things.
It's not as weird and wacky as the blurb would have you believe. I liked the main character, who seemed lost in a very relatable way. The observations about Amsterdam and the locals' perspective of British tourists there were also funny, sad and interesting.
I loved the mentions of the office staff trying to be "woke", which were painfully awkward at points and rang very true.
However, some of the commentary did seem randomly thrown in at times, and while I thought a lot of it was very apt, some seemed needlessly self-pitying. The narrator sees herself as the bottom of the food chain which, while it may be true in an office setting, is a little near-sighted when you think of the wider world (which this character did in other respects). I couldn't help feeling that Fien Veldman also echoed these sentiments, especially considering the essay she won an award for before publishing this book.
I also didn't find the printer romance totally believable - the (unnamed, ugh) narrator constantly tells us she's in love with him and is meant to be portrayed as having an infatuation, but she goes for long stretches without even thinking about him. In fact, the whole book had a bit of a problem with telling instead of showing - the most glaring example to me was the constant repetition of "I'm having a panic attack, I'm about to have a panic attack, just had a panic attack", etc. Is there not a more interesting way to show us that the narrator is having a panic attack?
My favorite part by far was the section from the printer's point of view. It was quite out-there but very imaginative, and got me thinking about a lot of different things.
mysterious
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
It's a lot, packed into not a lot of pages? But also, it's pretty... nothing and nowhere? It's weird, but not, like, printer/human erotica weird, just, complicated personhood, no one has any names, ramble-y stream of consciousness weird. And one of the four parts is narrated by the printer, so there's that.
I truly had no idea what to expect with this particular book. The synopsis is intriguing - definitely at home in the ‘weird girl litfic’ category. However, the synopsis hides that there is so much more to this book. There is a lot of internal dialogue and even a building of tension as the mc’s history is revealed. There is even a moment where the reader is transported into the mind of the printer, and the whole thing was written so brilliantly engaging. I only deducted a star because I felt some of the details could have been a little bit more concrete. There is a lot of vague gesturing towards certain themes by way of anecdotes told by the mc, and being more explicit with some of them would be useful to understanding her more.
Overall, worth the read.
Overall, worth the read.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes