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breanneporter's review against another edition
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a mixed bag for me. It puts you inside the head of the 26-year-old lesbian protagonist, Enid, who is confronting some mental health issues and finally working through some phobias and trauma that are affecting her life. There’s a sweet love story that was for sure the highlight for me (I love Polly!) and certainly some funny moments, but overall it was an exhausting and anxiety-inducing ride. For most of the novel I just wanted to scream-shout “please go to therapy for the love of god!!”, so it is a relief when it finally goes there but I struggled at both the beginning of the novel, getting used to being inside this mind, as well as toward the end, when I’d grown weary of it. Again I did enjoy much of the middle and I do think Enid is a very well constructed and interesting character, I just don’t want to spend too much time with her (but I’m so glad Polly does! Did I mention how much I love Polly?). I think I liked Everyone In this Room Will Someday Be Dead a little more but I’m glad I read this one too and I will likely pick up more from Emily Austin in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Abandonment, Murder, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia
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