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reflective
slow-paced
Mary Karr is a great author but this book was a little hard for me to get through. There were parts that felt too drawn out, especially when she was high, though I think that may have been her point. She really wanted the reader to experience her hallucinations.
I truly felt her deep and profound longing and loneliness throughout the book. It followed a clearer timeline than The Liars’ Club, but the pacing was still a little off for me. We start out with her leaving home and then never really find out what happened or how she got from the beginning of this book to the end of Liars’ Club.
I appreciated the humor woven into the story, especially when she took a break from being a pretentious teen to swear and speak more colloquially. The last 50 pages were almost unreadable for me but I do appreciate what she was doing and where she ended up.
I truly felt her deep and profound longing and loneliness throughout the book. It followed a clearer timeline than The Liars’ Club, but the pacing was still a little off for me. We start out with her leaving home and then never really find out what happened or how she got from the beginning of this book to the end of Liars’ Club.
I appreciated the humor woven into the story, especially when she took a break from being a pretentious teen to swear and speak more colloquially. The last 50 pages were almost unreadable for me but I do appreciate what she was doing and where she ended up.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
I *loved* Mary Karl’s first memoir “The Liar’s Club,” which I read in college. I still recommend it to this day. This memoir was good, but a bit meandering.
dark
emotional
reflective
No notes. I liked this just as much as The Liar's Club, even though the story was more subdued. We already know what an unbelievable shitshow Karr's childhood was from her first book, but in Cherry, we get to see the impact this has on her development. Rather than the crystal clear memories of trauma, this book gives us vibes: Memories that have been rendered cloudy and incomplete from depression, self-deception, and massive amounts of drug use. Still, whether she's talking about a mind-bending acid trip or describing awkward adolescent sex, Karr has a way of making everything delicious to read. She reflects on her shortcomings in a way that's both heartbreaking and insightful, and her allusion to the eventual losses that her peer group will sustain is haunting, while leaving a lot to the imagination (or her next book.) I read Cherry in three days-- almost in one sitting-- and it completely reinforced everything I loved about Karr. If you love her perspective and her writing (and not just the shock value of her story), Cherry is a fabulous follow-up to The Liar's Club.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use
I loved the passages in which she so eloquently describes the feelings of adolescence - the language and the descriptions capture the process beautifully.
reflective
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Mary Karr is my favorite author. Read Cherry, the Liar's Club, and don't miss her poetry.
This book is honest and her spicy, sharp humor makes it like a fun conversation. I want to read and re-read this book until I can't see anymore.
This book is honest and her spicy, sharp humor makes it like a fun conversation. I want to read and re-read this book until I can't see anymore.
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced