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midorilikessundays's review
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
egyptiaca's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
feralreader's review
3.0
In his excellent book, "I Hate Myself and Want to Die: The 52 Most Depressing Songs You've Ever Heard," Tom Reynolds uses this simple trick to teach us the difference between "sad" and "depressing. " When Nine Inch Nails perform it, the song "Hurt" is depressing. When Johnny Cash sang it, it was sad. I've found it to be useful for deciding how I feel about music, books, film....art of any kind. "The Fault in Our Stars," for example, was sad - lovely, bittersweet, and mostly devoid of nihilism. The world isn't a cesspool of misery and evil - just the opposite. It's full of love, beauty and incredible people, which is precisely why leaving it is so unfathomably sad. Anything I've read by Jodi Picoult (who I hear is very nice person!) has left me feeling it was written expressly to torture me. Depressing.
If Johnny Cash and Trent Reznor had a daughter, she would be Khersti Annesdatter Skomsvold. This book is both depressing and sad. I was attracted to it because of the title (truly brilliant). It was an easy read, well-written and even charming. You get the feeling Skomsvold is sly and wicked - I don't think you can get this grim without it being at least a little tongue-in-cheek.
Mathea, a virtual recluse and the victim of debilitating social anxiety, has managed to live a very, very long life without doing anything. At all. She loves strawberry jam, but can't open the jar, so she can never have it. It occurs to her that she could ask someone at the store to open it for her, then close it herself so she'll be able to open it when she gets home. But she never works up the nerve to do even that. In a life as uneventful as this character's, I'm actually wondering if I should put a spoiler alert there - never got any jam.
If it bothers you, as it did me, maybe you should, as a psychological exercise, write your own obituary and consider what it tells you about how you should be living your life. In fact, I should do that right now.
If Johnny Cash and Trent Reznor had a daughter, she would be Khersti Annesdatter Skomsvold. This book is both depressing and sad. I was attracted to it because of the title (truly brilliant). It was an easy read, well-written and even charming. You get the feeling Skomsvold is sly and wicked - I don't think you can get this grim without it being at least a little tongue-in-cheek.
Mathea, a virtual recluse and the victim of debilitating social anxiety, has managed to live a very, very long life without doing anything. At all. She loves strawberry jam, but can't open the jar, so she can never have it. It occurs to her that she could ask someone at the store to open it for her, then close it herself so she'll be able to open it when she gets home. But she never works up the nerve to do even that. In a life as uneventful as this character's, I'm actually wondering if I should put a spoiler alert there - never got any jam.
If it bothers you, as it did me, maybe you should, as a psychological exercise, write your own obituary and consider what it tells you about how you should be living your life. In fact, I should do that right now.
wrak's review
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
majokat's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
milliemary's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
bocker_enligt_angelica's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
catandherbooks's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.25
Not sure what to make of this one just yet. Was hoping it would have A Man Called Ove vibes but I think it missed the mark. I lie Mathea but overall the structureof this book was way more confusing than it had to be. It tried too hard and in the end it simply wasn't as good as it wanted to be. I did like the last pages though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Minor: Death and Miscarriage
kathrync17's review
5.0
I loved this little book; sweet and funny and heartbreaking all at the one time. It makes me want to spend time with my gran so she doesn't feel alone and try always make conversation with people. You never know who might need to talk to someone, no matter for how long :)