Reviews

i can tell she’s a very good writer but it was just so contemporary with the chapter titles and how delusional the mc is. i really liked parts of it and how it comments on parasocial relationships with themes of gender, race, etc. in a one-sided relationship. but a lot of it was just too much and i found myself struggling to get through parts of it because of how repetitive and unlikable the mc is.

Lines

Over time, I've learnt I need to ask very specific questions because the truth fractures in his mouth. He tells me a version by omission, which puts the responsibility onto me to ask the right questions in just the right way, almost as if I am a lawyer grilling a witness in court. However, he will often disarm me by giving me too much information and so if I am hurt, he says, well it's because you asked, and if I find out later that something was different to how he told me it is, he says, well you didn't ask the right question (8).

He offhandedly reveals domestic details he knows about the woman I am obsessed with and my nose flares with everything he doesn't say about how he came to acquire such intimate knowledge of her. How can he know me when he's so committed to understanding me (21).

The phrase which he says so offhandedly is stuck on a loop, seared into my brain like a core memory, hard evidence of the way he is not in thrall to me the way he is in thrall to her, proof of how close he allowed her to get to him and how far away he keeps himself from me (114).

I want to say to her, so you have nothing but white innocence because you are not aware of the inherent biolence of your hospitality, your food, your concepts of nature, your words, why do I have to carry the burden of history.

Our experience of time is markedly different. What they say about women having a shelf life, everything they said was true, all the women who I scorned for inhaling the patriarchal ideas of a sell-by date, the "ripeness" of women, the "freshness," my mother who told me to pick carefully, they were right and now I have to make a concerted effort to stem the tsunami of fear at being imprisoned by my gender - which now means not having any control over the meaning of myself (152).

There is sweetness all around me and I am a hard bitter fig. Everyone I know seems to move quite easily into acquiring the symbols of adulthood. My friends tell me they have shifting priorities for our friendship, perhaps we are not so aligned any more, they can't be as available as they were when we were younger. They have responsibilities now (200).

alexis_something_rose's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective

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

3.75

marieakeith's review against another edition

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dark funny medium-paced

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

2.75

The level of obsessiveness and pettiness made me laugh. It was cool the audiobook was performed by the author. Allllllmost a 3 star but it didn’t have enough substance for me, but I guess at the same time that might be the point?