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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
tense
medium-paced
Hands down, one of the best books I've read this year!
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Liked the beginning. Felt scary because we were in the dark just like sasha, which i found intriguing but then it got weird. I didnt like where it went but maybe im just stupid. I did love her relationship with her mother tho
Also, i thought that one guy she liked assaulted her when she was drunk and thats why she was avoiding him, but apparently it was just embarrassment ?!? and what was the reason for farit(?) to have lisa prostitute herself? did he also assault her? i was confused
Der Anfang ist ist verwirrend und man weiß nicht wo es hingehen soll, aber es lohnt sich weiterzulesen. Oh, und wie es sich lohnt! Ein großartiges und komplexes Buch.
Second reading: so it blew my mind again lol. I will be doing a write up on medium right now; with spoilers and without, as well as a YouTube video on it. So yeah. I love it.
This book… blew my mind a little bit. I am very tempted to just reread it again, right now. It’s that good. I imagine there’s a lot to pick up on the second go around.
Okay, so this is the story of a young adult, struggling to graduate high school at good enough grades to get into a decent post secondary school. She’s accosted multiple times by this older creepy dude, who has a strange power over her, basically he’s able to remove her agency and compel her to undergo tasks; very much in a hero’s journey sort of way - except far more of a suspenseful, surrealistic, and somewhat horrific bent. This book has got a very unique tone it strikes, I don’t even know what to compare it to.
She’s made to go to a school nobody knows about, the universe conspiring to get her there through a series of bizarre incidents and coaxing from the strange guy.
At the school things get even more interesting and surreal. We follow her journey at the school as she unravels what is going on, experiences as coming-of-age at the strange institute, and try to navigate social situations - all while taking classes that make her, and the other class members, to feel like they’re being brainwashed and reprogrammed.
From the plot alone you might suspect that it’s purely surrealistic horror, but I meant it when I said it strikes an odd tone. There IS loss of agency synonymous with horror, but the book is thematically cohesive despite its weirdness. Perhaps it’s one of the most thematically calibrated pieces I’ve yet to read, actually.
The post secondary experience and the internal mechanisms of youth changing, growing, evolving with knowledge and the fruition of the development of their bodies - basically all natural and systemic change that undergoes in the here and now through all learning and life cycle of the human body (especially puberty) - are literalized in the fiction.
The fiction would be thoughtful and interesting just in that myopic sense if that were all that was going on.
It combines the scientific notions of the body with cerebral concepts on philosophy, and then mixes in magical elements as well. Change, and the potential of every person is the main focal point of the story. Of course, as it relates to Sasha. Her place in the world, in the universe, and the raw potentiality of Sasha nicely counterpoint the horror elements, and, thankfully, explain the wildly strange and problematic teachings the mentors inflict on students.
Without spoilers I will say the magic system is so well designed and just blew me away. Everything about this was my jam.
That isn’t to say it’s an _easy_ read; though I devoured it quickly. The concepts are illusive and heady. The book is broken up into parts and doesn’t otherwise have chapters, just paragraph breaks for new scenes, making it structurally a bit challenging depending on your reading habits. It could also be troubling and triggering for people. There’s esoteric harm that is certainly abusive to the teenagers, including, if I understood correctly, sexual assault of a young woman when she recounts her story to Sasha.
It does make sense, so it’s not just gratuitous shock value crap, but it’s also not easily digestible, and I think that’s why it immediately signals those horror elements from the get go. Still, something to consider.
The ending of this book just. I can’t even. So good. This book works at a mythical story, as a critical reaction to academia, to the way society treats youth; but also a meaningful, self actualization of a person coming-of-age, facing off against an innermost obstacle, and hope in the unlikeliest of places (depending on your point of view).
It’s so fucking good, y’all.
This book… blew my mind a little bit. I am very tempted to just reread it again, right now. It’s that good. I imagine there’s a lot to pick up on the second go around.
Okay, so this is the story of a young adult, struggling to graduate high school at good enough grades to get into a decent post secondary school. She’s accosted multiple times by this older creepy dude, who has a strange power over her, basically he’s able to remove her agency and compel her to undergo tasks; very much in a hero’s journey sort of way - except far more of a suspenseful, surrealistic, and somewhat horrific bent. This book has got a very unique tone it strikes, I don’t even know what to compare it to.
She’s made to go to a school nobody knows about, the universe conspiring to get her there through a series of bizarre incidents and coaxing from the strange guy.
At the school things get even more interesting and surreal. We follow her journey at the school as she unravels what is going on, experiences as coming-of-age at the strange institute, and try to navigate social situations - all while taking classes that make her, and the other class members, to feel like they’re being brainwashed and reprogrammed.
From the plot alone you might suspect that it’s purely surrealistic horror, but I meant it when I said it strikes an odd tone. There IS loss of agency synonymous with horror, but the book is thematically cohesive despite its weirdness. Perhaps it’s one of the most thematically calibrated pieces I’ve yet to read, actually.
The post secondary experience and the internal mechanisms of youth changing, growing, evolving with knowledge and the fruition of the development of their bodies - basically all natural and systemic change that undergoes in the here and now through all learning and life cycle of the human body (especially puberty) - are literalized in the fiction.
The fiction would be thoughtful and interesting just in that myopic sense if that were all that was going on.
It combines the scientific notions of the body with cerebral concepts on philosophy, and then mixes in magical elements as well. Change, and the potential of every person is the main focal point of the story. Of course, as it relates to Sasha. Her place in the world, in the universe, and the raw potentiality of Sasha nicely counterpoint the horror elements, and, thankfully, explain the wildly strange and problematic teachings the mentors inflict on students.
Without spoilers I will say the magic system is so well designed and just blew me away. Everything about this was my jam.
That isn’t to say it’s an _easy_ read; though I devoured it quickly. The concepts are illusive and heady. The book is broken up into parts and doesn’t otherwise have chapters, just paragraph breaks for new scenes, making it structurally a bit challenging depending on your reading habits. It could also be troubling and triggering for people. There’s esoteric harm that is certainly abusive to the teenagers, including, if I understood correctly, sexual assault of a young woman when she recounts her story to Sasha.
It does make sense, so it’s not just gratuitous shock value crap, but it’s also not easily digestible, and I think that’s why it immediately signals those horror elements from the get go. Still, something to consider.
The ending of this book just. I can’t even. So good. This book works at a mythical story, as a critical reaction to academia, to the way society treats youth; but also a meaningful, self actualization of a person coming-of-age, facing off against an innermost obstacle, and hope in the unlikeliest of places (depending on your point of view).
It’s so fucking good, y’all.
Yes I would agree that it is like The Magicians, which I also really disliked. Maybe the disillusioned adult Harry Potter genre is just not my thing? It feels dark in a contrived, something-to-prove way. But some cool/creative ideas for sure.
This book starts with Sasha on vacation at the seashore with her mom. She is approached by a stranger This man asks her to do a strange task everyday at 4 am alone and not tell anyone. He then threatens her if she doesn’t do it. I don’t want to give away much of this incredible work but read on please.
I don’t even know how to describe this book.Heart stopping, gut wrenching I felt my emotions pulled from one extreme to the other. I don’t know if I have ever read a book like this. It was a difficult book to read because it was so detailed, if you had skipped anything you would have been lost. At least that’s how I felt. An incredible fantastic book that would be hard to ever top. This was a “date” book that I picked up from the library through the reading challenge because it was a translation from Russian. I’m glad I did.
That being said this book would not be for everyone but if you enjoy books out of the normal stream try it you might really love it.
I don’t even know how to describe this book.Heart stopping, gut wrenching I felt my emotions pulled from one extreme to the other. I don’t know if I have ever read a book like this. It was a difficult book to read because it was so detailed, if you had skipped anything you would have been lost. At least that’s how I felt. An incredible fantastic book that would be hard to ever top. This was a “date” book that I picked up from the library through the reading challenge because it was a translation from Russian. I’m glad I did.
That being said this book would not be for everyone but if you enjoy books out of the normal stream try it you might really love it.