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emjay2021's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
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
This is such a strange book. I found the beginning to be a bit of a hard slog, but after 50 pages, things really picked up for me. Things started to actually happen. Disturbing things, mind you, but still.
Bernstein’s writing is really good, but her sentences are long, elliptical, and sometimes hard to parse. The narrator is weird and difficult to like—but I’m convinced this is intentional on the part of the author. Numerous times I found myself very irritated by the narrator and thinking, “Stop being so naive! Stand up for yourself!” Which is all a bit unfair, because we do know why she is the way she is (or at least have a pretty good idea). It casts the reader into the role of the townspeople, which is a discomfiting place to be.
This book is all about dominance and submission, ostracism, prejudice and oppression. It’s about weird, small-town mindset and fear of the other. It’s a claustrophobic, peculiar book. There’s a sense of creeping dread that contrasts with the bucolic setting in a way that reminds me of Shirley Jackson’s “Summer People,” or movies like The Wicker Man or Midsommar.
I’m not going to give it a rating because I don’t tend to rate experimental books. I’m not sorry I read it, but I can’t say it was pleasant, either. Still, I kept noting turns of phrase while reading and thinking about the book even after I finished reading. I was glad it was short, though.
Bernstein’s writing is really good, but her sentences are long, elliptical, and sometimes hard to parse. The narrator is weird and difficult to like—but I’m convinced this is intentional on the part of the author. Numerous times I found myself very irritated by the narrator and thinking, “Stop being so naive! Stand up for yourself!” Which is all a bit unfair, because we do know why she is the way she is (or at least have a pretty good idea). It casts the reader into the role of the townspeople, which is a discomfiting place to be.
This book is all about dominance and submission, ostracism, prejudice and oppression. It’s about weird, small-town mindset and fear of the other. It’s a claustrophobic, peculiar book. There’s a sense of creeping dread that contrasts with the bucolic setting in a way that reminds me of Shirley Jackson’s “Summer People,” or movies like The Wicker Man or Midsommar.
I’m not going to give it a rating because I don’t tend to rate experimental books. I’m not sorry I read it, but I can’t say it was pleasant, either. Still, I kept noting turns of phrase while reading and thinking about the book even after I finished reading. I was glad it was short, though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, Bullying, Animal death, Gaslighting, and Religious bigotry
rebeccafarren's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Hate crime, Bullying, Animal death, and Abandonment
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