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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
She’s just like me for real (unhappy)
challenging
funny
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
no sé, hermanas. me gustó, pero no me gustó. creo que lo aprecio más como libro en sí que como experiencia de lectura; quiero decir, aprecio lo que es, pero no sé si diría que lo disfruté. se me hizo rápido, eso sí, y me alegra haberlo leído, incluso si no es que la pasé bomba.
millie es una densa y en sí su historia es muy triste, pero la ironía deliberada de su situación hizo que me costara mucho empatizar con ella cuando recordaba varias cosas. no pueden presentarme un protagonista con plata, no lo voy a querer sin importar qué parecería.
tendría que leer más libros de butler para saber si es su manera de pensar en general o si nomás es propio de the new me, pero detesté toda esta bajada de línea adyacente al joker y muy de incel redditor de «todo el mundo es una mierda, todos son egocéntricos y no le importa verdaderamente el otro, nos la pasamos juzgándonos entre nosotros y no hay mucho más que eso en nuestro interior». me gustará un poco de cinismo de vez en cuanto, pero la verdad es que me hizo calentar este libro en ese sentido, pfff. a las personas sí les importa el otro, incluso si puede que no le interese la anécdota que le estás contando en ese instante. ojalá butler lo sepa, ah.
extrañamente este libro me hizo sentir INSEGURA. ah, la que menos problemas tiene. pero en serio. me hizo plantearme si seré la millie en la vida de alguien más y me hizo sentir mucha vergüenza acerca de lo mucho que le cuento de mi vida a mis amistades. en cierto momento, me convenció de que la realidad que plantea es totalmente verídica y me sentí casi humillada, hasta que empecé a reflexionar y llegué a la conclusión de que no estoy para nada de acuerdo con lo que dice entre líneas.
el final dejó bastante que desear, pero la verdad es que no me puedo quejar mucho porque desde un principio no sé qué final estaba esperando necesariamente.
en fin, ¿me gustó? no sabría decir. ¿lo disfruté? medio que no. ¿estoy feliz de haberlo leído? muy.
millie es una densa y en sí su historia es muy triste, pero la ironía deliberada de su situación hizo que me costara mucho empatizar con ella cuando recordaba varias cosas. no pueden presentarme un protagonista con plata, no lo voy a querer sin importar qué parecería.
tendría que leer más libros de butler para saber si es su manera de pensar en general o si nomás es propio de the new me, pero detesté toda esta bajada de línea adyacente al joker y muy de incel redditor de «todo el mundo es una mierda, todos son egocéntricos y no le importa verdaderamente el otro, nos la pasamos juzgándonos entre nosotros y no hay mucho más que eso en nuestro interior». me gustará un poco de cinismo de vez en cuanto, pero la verdad es que me hizo calentar este libro en ese sentido, pfff. a las personas sí les importa el otro, incluso si puede que no le interese la anécdota que le estás contando en ese instante. ojalá butler lo sepa, ah.
extrañamente este libro me hizo sentir INSEGURA. ah, la que menos problemas tiene. pero en serio. me hizo plantearme si seré la millie en la vida de alguien más y me hizo sentir mucha vergüenza acerca de lo mucho que le cuento de mi vida a mis amistades. en cierto momento, me convenció de que la realidad que plantea es totalmente verídica y me sentí casi humillada, hasta que empecé a reflexionar y llegué a la conclusión de que no estoy para nada de acuerdo con lo que dice entre líneas.
el final dejó bastante que desear, pero la verdad es que no me puedo quejar mucho porque desde un principio no sé qué final estaba esperando necesariamente.
en fin, ¿me gustó? no sabría decir. ¿lo disfruté? medio que no. ¿estoy feliz de haberlo leído? muy.
Felt like a really long essay and may have functioned better if it was shorter. Expect as much self loathing and also delusion as Lena Dunham’s Girls.
boring, it had absolutely nothing to say or to prove. the main character had no dimension, and the wider world around her regarding her workplace, family, psyche etc just wasn't there.
Was trying to figure out what this book MEANS but then figured that this would be the absolute perfect book to just mean nothing and take up four hours of an uneventful weekend
closer to 3.75 stars - i feel like this encapsulates millennial burnout perfectly.
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In the hands of the wrong author, this book could have been a lot worse.
Halle Butler's ability to capture the inner monologue of an upper-middle-class-college-fund-adult/pseudo-intellectual/ "holier than thou"pessimist is impressive. The book isn't very long, and I was able to finish the audio book in about 4 hours. (I HIGHLY recommend the audio book if you're interested in reading, it's read by the author and the character voice she uses for Millie makes the book infinitely more entertaining.) The book's length adds to the appeal because, in my opinion, the book's lack of purpose/thesis would shine through if it was any longer.
That's my main problem with the book. It feels pointless. I understand it's supposed to be a "witty satire" about the soul-crushing experience of surviving American-capitalism, but did I really need to spend 4ish hours of my life reading about mundane activities to understand that? "being a cog in the machine is boring and unfulfilling" isn't exactly a new or interesting take, and I'm disappointed that Butler didn't leave me with anything to think about or process after finishing this book. Yeah, I know capitalism is sucking the life out of me, most people know that. Stay tuned for my new novel where readers will learn that santa isn't real with "biting social commentary" about how it's kind of messed up that we lie to children on such a large scale.
In my opinion, satire works best when certain aspects of a concept are exaggerated to emphasize the inherent absurdity of the original concept. "The New Me" misses the mark for me, it feels TOO mundane to be considered a true "satire". Maybe that's the point! Maybe I'm supposed to feel bored with this book because capitalism is boring and mundane. Maybe I would have been more open to that interpretation if this had been a short story, concluding in under 5,000 words.
I didn't hate this book, it's short, the writing is enjoyable, and the lack of anything interesting or meaningful happening didn't sink in until I had finished reading. If Butler had left me with something to think about after reading, I could easily see this book being a 4 star read. But without a strong thesis/message, I'm afraid the content of this book will fade away and get lost in my own experience in "the machine".
Halle Butler's ability to capture the inner monologue of an upper-middle-class-college-fund-adult/pseudo-intellectual/ "holier than thou"pessimist is impressive. The book isn't very long, and I was able to finish the audio book in about 4 hours. (I HIGHLY recommend the audio book if you're interested in reading, it's read by the author and the character voice she uses for Millie makes the book infinitely more entertaining.) The book's length adds to the appeal because, in my opinion, the book's lack of purpose/thesis would shine through if it was any longer.
That's my main problem with the book. It feels pointless. I understand it's supposed to be a "witty satire" about the soul-crushing experience of surviving American-capitalism, but did I really need to spend 4ish hours of my life reading about mundane activities to understand that? "being a cog in the machine is boring and unfulfilling" isn't exactly a new or interesting take, and I'm disappointed that Butler didn't leave me with anything to think about or process after finishing this book. Yeah, I know capitalism is sucking the life out of me, most people know that. Stay tuned for my new novel where readers will learn that santa isn't real with "biting social commentary" about how it's kind of messed up that we lie to children on such a large scale.
In my opinion, satire works best when certain aspects of a concept are exaggerated to emphasize the inherent absurdity of the original concept. "The New Me" misses the mark for me, it feels TOO mundane to be considered a true "satire". Maybe that's the point! Maybe I'm supposed to feel bored with this book because capitalism is boring and mundane. Maybe I would have been more open to that interpretation if this had been a short story, concluding in under 5,000 words.
I didn't hate this book, it's short, the writing is enjoyable, and the lack of anything interesting or meaningful happening didn't sink in until I had finished reading. If Butler had left me with something to think about after reading, I could easily see this book being a 4 star read. But without a strong thesis/message, I'm afraid the content of this book will fade away and get lost in my own experience in "the machine".