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renari's review against another edition
3.75
quite triggering as it goes into very gory detail about the suicide
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship
carolinerd's review
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Put simply, it's the story of Eli, a young man who hates his job but can't bring himself to quit it, doesn't really want to be with his girlfriend anymore but can't bring himself to dump her and, most importantly, wants to be a novelist but can't get beyond the first chapter. It's only when his best friend, Mike, commits suicide that Eli starts to realise that he maybe ought to either commit to something in his life or end the things that aren't working for him. A sort of a wake-up call, if you like.
As I say, that is putting it simply and there's nothing simple about this novel. I got utterly confused by this book almost from the start. I didn't know if what I was reading had really happened or if it was just the imagination of the main character. Maybe that's deliberate though, because Eli is someone who struggles to separate reality from fiction. You can't really rely on his narration. So, I found myself questioning everything I read and hoping that it would all become clearer as I went on. It didn't really. I even wondered at times if Mike really had killed himself. I didn't know whether all the characters (like the two guys called Ted who run the coffee shop) were real and whether what happened to them was real or just another of Eli's stories. I couldn't tell when he was just trying out ideas for another 1st chapter of a novel, or whether he was relating real events. Like I say, perhaps that is the whole point. Maybe Eli himself doesn't always know what's real and what he's made up.
To make it all the more confusing, the narrative skips about - the day of the suicide, 2 days before the suicide, the day after, etc. It added to my frustration.
In spite of these difficulties, I did find it strangely compelling. It is dark, surreal and at times very funny. Eli isn't a particularly nice character but I could relate to his cynical observations on life and his dark humour did make me laugh. It's also an interesting and quite disturbing look at how we react or fail to react to warning signs of depression and mental illness. Perhaps that was one of the most shocking things for me, that I never really understood why Mike was suicidal, how he could go from cheerfully polishing his living room floor one minute to wanting to die. Maybe we expect suicide to fit a pattern of behaviour, but in many cases it just doesn't. There is often a lot that seems inconsistent or remains hidden.
A bleak read and not really my cup of tea, but unusual and thought-provoking in a confusing way.
As I say, that is putting it simply and there's nothing simple about this novel. I got utterly confused by this book almost from the start. I didn't know if what I was reading had really happened or if it was just the imagination of the main character. Maybe that's deliberate though, because Eli is someone who struggles to separate reality from fiction. You can't really rely on his narration. So, I found myself questioning everything I read and hoping that it would all become clearer as I went on. It didn't really. I even wondered at times if Mike really had killed himself. I didn't know whether all the characters (like the two guys called Ted who run the coffee shop) were real and whether what happened to them was real or just another of Eli's stories. I couldn't tell when he was just trying out ideas for another 1st chapter of a novel, or whether he was relating real events. Like I say, perhaps that is the whole point. Maybe Eli himself doesn't always know what's real and what he's made up.
To make it all the more confusing, the narrative skips about - the day of the suicide, 2 days before the suicide, the day after, etc. It added to my frustration.
In spite of these difficulties, I did find it strangely compelling. It is dark, surreal and at times very funny. Eli isn't a particularly nice character but I could relate to his cynical observations on life and his dark humour did make me laugh. It's also an interesting and quite disturbing look at how we react or fail to react to warning signs of depression and mental illness. Perhaps that was one of the most shocking things for me, that I never really understood why Mike was suicidal, how he could go from cheerfully polishing his living room floor one minute to wanting to die. Maybe we expect suicide to fit a pattern of behaviour, but in many cases it just doesn't. There is often a lot that seems inconsistent or remains hidden.
A bleak read and not really my cup of tea, but unusual and thought-provoking in a confusing way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt
danielafin's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
norwegianforestreader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Self harm, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Gore, Gaslighting, Blood, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Body horror
Minor: Vomit, Police brutality, and Rape
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