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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
An absolute fever dream of a book. Smart, fun, snarky, and completely unhinged, our narrator is a welcome addition to the literary canon of gaslight, gatekeep, and girlboss.
Very “unhinged women” genre effectiveness, loved reading this.
Found from the 10 Books About Women Who Want to Have Sex list:
https://electricliterature.com/10-books-about-women-who-want-to-have-sex/
Found from the 10 Books About Women Who Want to Have Sex list:
https://electricliterature.com/10-books-about-women-who-want-to-have-sex/
This one is probably 3.5 stars from me, with Jonas’ writing giving it that extra half star. Though only 238 pages, the book felt more dense. The writing is crisp and incisive. I had to look up the meeting of a word or two. The style caught me from the first page.
Our main character, whose name we never learn, gives us a fascinating look into her psyche. She gives an alternate view on agency and power dynamics in relationships. She’s both confident and insecure; certain and confused. It’s almost like she’s an observer in her own life- a bit detached, despite us reading her innermost thoughts.
Each of the characters is prickly in their own way. As a character study, the book does well. But I found the plot of the last third of the book unwieldy. The same resolution could have been achieved in a more plausible way, I think.
And while there is resolution, I’m not sure if people are making the choices they really want, or settling for a mild contentment.
Our main character, whose name we never learn, gives us a fascinating look into her psyche. She gives an alternate view on agency and power dynamics in relationships. She’s both confident and insecure; certain and confused. It’s almost like she’s an observer in her own life- a bit detached, despite us reading her innermost thoughts.
Each of the characters is prickly in their own way. As a character study, the book does well. But I found the plot of the last third of the book unwieldy. The same resolution could have been achieved in a more plausible way, I think.
And while there is resolution, I’m not sure if people are making the choices they really want, or settling for a mild contentment.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“I was too happy…to let her annoyance feel like anything other than the feeble blows that daughters lob against their mothers to make sure they’ll still be loved, even at their most peevish.”
3 stars because not unlike a lot of literary novels nowadays, the form was much stronger than the content
3 stars because not unlike a lot of literary novels nowadays, the form was much stronger than the content
D’excellentes et rares qualités aussi fugaces que des étoiles filantes et de nombreuses lourdeurs impardonnables. Entre les deux, une prose habile et une tentative de subversion grossière, mais une histoire (bien que sans intérêt) dont on veut connaître la suite. J’aurai oublié ce roman dans 4 mois, mais je ne peux pas dire que j’aie passé un moment exécrable non plus.
Can I give less than one star? I didn’t make it past page 50 and I neveeerrrrr DNF.
This was notttt for me. Every single little thought was listed out about absolutely everything. Just no. Sorry.
This was notttt for me. Every single little thought was listed out about absolutely everything. Just no. Sorry.
Found the pace slow. I normally like an unlikeable narrator but I was just confused throughout with this one. It felt like it was a story where there wasn’t anything to write about? The blurb hooked me and then the actual story was less than giving for me. :(
I loved how the main character thought about her students.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I need to stop reading literary fiction with internet/book review buzz. This may be the worst book I have ever read. What at first seems like a portrait of a flawed character whose insufferableness is meant to be some sort of commentary on the ugliness of patriarchy rapidly descends into a caricature of white feminism that is so superficial and empty it becomes really unclear the extent to which the author was intentionally writing an unlikeable narrator vs. is herself a white woman white-womaning, with the same uncritical and self-aggrandizing perspective as the atrocious character she has crafted. DNF