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3.25 AVERAGE
3.25 AVERAGE
It's so hard to write about this book because this book is so beautifully written. Oola by 21-year-old debut author Brittany Newell is edgy, lyrical, and full of heart. This novel won't be for everyone, but in the right hands, its readers will fall in love.
Oola is a completely original story of obsession gone wrong. In a strange hybrid between Lolita and Caroline Kepnes's You, the reader is sucked into the depths of Leif's fixation. Swept away by the young couple's whimsical sense of invincibility, you almost miss the madness that slowly seeps in as Leif builds a shrine of Oola. Observing her every move, capturing fallen strands of hair and used tissues - Leif's actions almost seem charming under the guise of Newell's gorgeous writing. It isn't until you set the book down that you realize the disturbing reality built by the two lovers.
Although, don't pick this book up with the expectation of a firey and fast-paced story. This novel is entirely character-driven, a dive into the mind of someone in the throughs of obsession. It is raw and intense, and at times, brings into question the boundaries of gender. If you love character studies and passionate prose - this one is for you.
Oola is a completely original story of obsession gone wrong. In a strange hybrid between Lolita and Caroline Kepnes's You, the reader is sucked into the depths of Leif's fixation. Swept away by the young couple's whimsical sense of invincibility, you almost miss the madness that slowly seeps in as Leif builds a shrine of Oola. Observing her every move, capturing fallen strands of hair and used tissues - Leif's actions almost seem charming under the guise of Newell's gorgeous writing. It isn't until you set the book down that you realize the disturbing reality built by the two lovers.
Although, don't pick this book up with the expectation of a firey and fast-paced story. This novel is entirely character-driven, a dive into the mind of someone in the throughs of obsession. It is raw and intense, and at times, brings into question the boundaries of gender. If you love character studies and passionate prose - this one is for you.
Weird, dark, obsessive...reminded me at times of the characters in The Secret History.
This book was intense. The way the author handles the presentation and emotions in her characters was certainly fascinating. I'm not sure what else to say about this book, honestly. Maybe more thoughts will come to me in time.
Hope this book will receive some hype. Very interesting, beautifully written queer novel about a destructive relationship.
4*
4*
Oola is not what I expected. It made me uncomfortable at times while reading it, but because of this I ultimately enjoyed it. This is a novel about an obsession that starts out innocent enough, but turns more sinister and disturbing over time.
Lief and Oola meet at a party and this is when Lief becomes enamored with her almost instantaneously. Oola isn’t looking for a relationship, but Lief offers her an adventure of house sitting for the rich across Europe and the US that she finds too irresistible to pass up. Early on it becomes obvious that both Lief and Oola are a little off. At first it seems that they are both eccentric, but as we learn more about them it becomes clear that there is mental illness lurking beneath the surface.
One of the reasons I enjoyed Oola is because it is a character driven story. Lief starts out as a weirdo, but seems pretty harmless, but as the story progresses his madness slowly creeps up on you. There is very little in terms of major events within the plot. The story progresses as a series of interactions and changes in the character's’ relationship with one another.This is a novel is fascinating and a compulsive read for anyone who loves a good psychological suspense read.
Lief and Oola meet at a party and this is when Lief becomes enamored with her almost instantaneously. Oola isn’t looking for a relationship, but Lief offers her an adventure of house sitting for the rich across Europe and the US that she finds too irresistible to pass up. Early on it becomes obvious that both Lief and Oola are a little off. At first it seems that they are both eccentric, but as we learn more about them it becomes clear that there is mental illness lurking beneath the surface.
One of the reasons I enjoyed Oola is because it is a character driven story. Lief starts out as a weirdo, but seems pretty harmless, but as the story progresses his madness slowly creeps up on you. There is very little in terms of major events within the plot. The story progresses as a series of interactions and changes in the character's’ relationship with one another.This is a novel is fascinating and a compulsive read for anyone who loves a good psychological suspense read.
Oola by Brittany Newell tells the story of an aimless, drifting couple who shack up in Big Sur for a while, him growing his obsession of her, and her languidly passing time until she leaves. The blurb about the book can be misleading, since nothing dangerous really comes off Leif's obsession of Oola. There isn't an event that chills to the bone. Most of the book is Leif's chronicling of Oola, her skin, her hair, her scars, her smell, her cigarette butts, her clothes, her nail clippings, while she hangs out, reads, answers questions, cooks, and practices piano during the one hour he goes running, the only hour they spend together. His mind takes the story back to his younger days, to his previous love interest, a man called Tay, and his own neuroses, while Oola's occasional monologs give glimpses of her "white trash" past. The real turn in the story comes when Oola leaves, though one could point to earlier moments when things start to get strange. Perhaps this moment comes a little too late, because then things happen, and they seem a bit rushed, not well balanced with all the things that happened before, so languid, lost and un-bumpy as they were.
Leif's and Oola's metamorphoses are certainly the crux of the story. While Leif's motives and choices are clear, Oola's are a mystery, despite the fact that most of the book seems to be about Oola. Why does Oola leave? What's up with the salty water? And the aliens? We are not meant to find these things out, or we are meant to speculate about them, like Leif speculates about Oola's inner being by just observing her every move and collecting her detritus.
The obsession gives the first half of the book a sense of claustrophobia that is complete and suffocating, something I believe the authors sets out to do and succeeds well in doing. The events that follow release pressure, and Leif flutters violently like a balloon now letting out air in convulsions. But what is slightly disappointing is that we never really get to know Oola, and maybe that's the point, that one can learn a lot about someone by watching them, or even quizzing them, but it is impossible to know someone completely.
It's strange to try to understand Leif and Oola: who are these people? Do people like this exist? These post-postmodern hipster-come-hippies who aimlessly drift from one bored day to the next, moving but stationary, alive yet stagnant, these people who can afford countless aimless afternoons... are they real? These are the things I find myself asking after I have finished the novel, wondering what they mean, these people and their existence. I feel slightly ridiculous and guilty for having read it, just like I do after watching yet another old film about very rich people bantering on about their lives in black and white, Katherine Hepburn's hair done impeccably and Cary Grant grinning. Perhaps is is so very strange to think of Leif and Oola as these kinds of iconic stars and the rich and spoiled roles they played, but in a way that's exactly who they are, these uber-privileged, lost 21st century Americans who jet set seamlessly (ah, not to have to get visas to Europe...) and rot from boredom.
Leif's sexuality was perhaps the most interesting subject in this novel for me, though I can't quite call it sexuality, as it has little to do with sexual identity or gender expression, but rather a mind displacement, a strong wish to be someone else, not just someone because they are a woman, but someone in particular. Leif is the embodiment of careless daydreams where teenagers don superhero identities and save damsels in distress or the office clerk becomes the boss and fires everyone. Leif takes it to the extreme, finding a strange yet necessary merging with his gender-queer past and present that works well with his desire to become Oola. Though his struggles to embody the very thing he covets seem extreme, there is very little that is actually extreme. The foreshadowing (both in the copy for the book and in the novel itself) of danger and S&M, in whatever loose meaning of its complexities, simply does not materialize into something recognizable as such later.
Recommended for those who like avocados, cats, XXL shirts, salt water, and classical music.
Thanks to LibraryThing and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Leif's and Oola's metamorphoses are certainly the crux of the story. While Leif's motives and choices are clear, Oola's are a mystery, despite the fact that most of the book seems to be about Oola. Why does Oola leave? What's up with the salty water? And the aliens? We are not meant to find these things out, or we are meant to speculate about them, like Leif speculates about Oola's inner being by just observing her every move and collecting her detritus.
The obsession gives the first half of the book a sense of claustrophobia that is complete and suffocating, something I believe the authors sets out to do and succeeds well in doing. The events that follow release pressure, and Leif flutters violently like a balloon now letting out air in convulsions. But what is slightly disappointing is that we never really get to know Oola, and maybe that's the point, that one can learn a lot about someone by watching them, or even quizzing them, but it is impossible to know someone completely.
It's strange to try to understand Leif and Oola: who are these people? Do people like this exist? These post-postmodern hipster-come-hippies who aimlessly drift from one bored day to the next, moving but stationary, alive yet stagnant, these people who can afford countless aimless afternoons... are they real? These are the things I find myself asking after I have finished the novel, wondering what they mean, these people and their existence. I feel slightly ridiculous and guilty for having read it, just like I do after watching yet another old film about very rich people bantering on about their lives in black and white, Katherine Hepburn's hair done impeccably and Cary Grant grinning. Perhaps is is so very strange to think of Leif and Oola as these kinds of iconic stars and the rich and spoiled roles they played, but in a way that's exactly who they are, these uber-privileged, lost 21st century Americans who jet set seamlessly (ah, not to have to get visas to Europe...) and rot from boredom.
Leif's sexuality was perhaps the most interesting subject in this novel for me, though I can't quite call it sexuality, as it has little to do with sexual identity or gender expression, but rather a mind displacement, a strong wish to be someone else, not just someone because they are a woman, but someone in particular. Leif is the embodiment of careless daydreams where teenagers don superhero identities and save damsels in distress or the office clerk becomes the boss and fires everyone. Leif takes it to the extreme, finding a strange yet necessary merging with his gender-queer past and present that works well with his desire to become Oola. Though his struggles to embody the very thing he covets seem extreme, there is very little that is actually extreme. The foreshadowing (both in the copy for the book and in the novel itself) of danger and S&M, in whatever loose meaning of its complexities, simply does not materialize into something recognizable as such later.
Recommended for those who like avocados, cats, XXL shirts, salt water, and classical music.
Thanks to LibraryThing and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I was thoroughly absorbed for the first portion of the story as the relationship between Oola and Leif unfolded since what's not to like about an unreliable narrator? The slow, tension-building of the beginning of the story reminded me a lot of all the best details in Bates Motel that manage to make my skin crawl while also not being able to look away.
Unfortunately, there came a point where the story started to feel a bit stagnant to me about midway through the novel. I'd heard enough of Oola's background and that's when I became distracted by my dislike for both her and Leif - enough to make me feel like I didn't care to continue reading. What had initially held my interest never seemed to go below surface level in plot development, but I decided to hold out and see if the storyline would peak my interest again.
I wish I had chosen to just admit defeat instead of seeing this one till the end. While I usually embrace the abstract and bizarre, Oola felt too forced and contrived for me to ever really connect to the story.
Unfortunately, there came a point where the story started to feel a bit stagnant to me about midway through the novel. I'd heard enough of Oola's background and that's when I became distracted by my dislike for both her and Leif - enough to make me feel like I didn't care to continue reading. What had initially held my interest never seemed to go below surface level in plot development, but I decided to hold out and see if the storyline would peak my interest again.
I wish I had chosen to just admit defeat instead of seeing this one till the end. While I usually embrace the abstract and bizarre, Oola felt too forced and contrived for me to ever really connect to the story.