Reviews

You Feel It Just Below the Ribs by Jeffrey Cranor, Janina Matthewson

jessuh27's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

andreabrownriley's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

thismustbemyexit's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

love it when books self-reflexively engage with unreliable narrators and as such i found the back-and-forth with the footnotes and main story fun.  ‘fun’ was kind of where it ended for me though as i don’t feel like i got much out of this nor do i think i’d re-read it. 

ananthousflorist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

seereeves's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I was interested in the world being built. The storytelling format I think was supposed to be clever and felt that way at first. However by the end the book just dragged on, the footnote annotations became less useful, and ultimately there didn’t seem to be a point. 

After reading it, I discovered it’s a book set in the world of a podcast the authors also write together. Maybe there are seasons of the podcast I’d enjoy seeing as how the world itself seems interesting. 

historyofjess's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was such a fun read. The book is presented as a piece of found literature (a memoir) with addendums and footnotes from the organization that found her writing and made the, as they say, controversial decision, to publish it. The narrator traces her life in an alternate history of the Earth beset by worldwide conflict in the early 20th century all the way through the building of a new society. But what could have been just an intricate world-building book is elevated by the book's structure, which becomes a battle of unreliable narrators.

The footnotes and interludes begin with a kind of passionless, historically-minded voice, but as they needle and pick at the author's recollections over the course of the book, they become more hostile and judgmental. And as we learn more about the story the author is telling and why she is telling it, the longer footnotes seem less insidious than the frequent use of brief, "edited for clarity" notes. It's a wild ride that I thoroughly enjoyed and I was excited to learn at the end that this was actually born from a podcast these authors created in this universe and I'm excited to dig into that, as well.

elsreadsandrecs's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

aandromeda's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Child death, Medical trauma, and Medical content

gracelint18's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.75

trekkie1999's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This is a really interesting book, especially since I started listening to within the wires back when it first came out. While it’s nice to get some background on the world, I feel like it leaves me with more questions than answers. I’d love to see a follow up from the perspective of someone growing up within the new society, or to read about what happens to perhaps end this society.