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yiiiivhen's review against another edition
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
kirajoy's review
3.0
This was clearly an immensely personal book to the author, and at that, it quite excels. For me however, if I’m reading a book in this writing style I would prefer one written by Jenny Offill. The book ranges between the ironically profound, to kind of boring. It is an interesting data point in the “books written during the pandemic” pantheon at least. I certainly highlighted quite a bit, but the book didn’t offer me much more than small witticisms that were easy to highlight.
ccreadsthat's review against another edition
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
hk_reads's review against another edition
dark
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
liajfoster's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lesserjoke's review against another edition
2.0
In the parlance of this novel: "I'm in this photo and I don't like it."
Which is to say, a lot of the story is an attempt to portray what it's like to be Extremely Online, tapped into that stream of global consciousness that delivers up milkshake ducks and memes and post-ironic viral tweets in an ever-accelerating cycle, a brilliant but toxic but mostly just weird digital ecosystem that's hard to fully grasp from the outside. Author Patricia Lockwood captures that essence perhaps better than any novelist I've seen, and I can definitely relate to her protagonist's difficulty explaining what's made her laugh to a spouse who's less plugged-in.
At the same time, the writer is much harsher towards that uniquely modern mode of technologically-enhanced existence than I think is entirely fair, although her critiques are largely by implication rather than expressed outright. And that's the biggest problem with this project: it is incredibly disjointed and aimless, achieving the occasional sharp insight but couching everything in needlessly florid language. Donald Trump is called only "the dictator." The internet itself is "the portal." And for more than half the book, there's no plot to speak of whatsoever.
Then a little past the midway point, our heroine gets news of complications in her sister's pregnancy, which helps ground the narrative in emotional stakes and a structure that has been completely absent before. (It's also based somewhat on Lockwood's own family history, I gather.) I greatly prefer that part of the work, despite the clumsily offensive ignorance-is-bliss metaphor linking the baby born with minimal brain function to people who can manage to keep themselves off social media.
The text as a whole, though, isn't great. The bifurcation between its separate halves is too acute, and the larger early section is a fever dream of nonsense even for those of us who can generally follow along. I've picked up on many references to real events, but I couldn't rightly classify the rest as either items I happened to miss over the past few years or pure invented hyperbole standing in for them satirically. It channels the experience of virtual life in the Trump era, floundering in a tide of rising extremism egged on by the bully-in-chief and rapid-fire swings in the zeitgeist of acceptable discourse, yet it does so in a way that's already off-putting now and seems guaranteed to age poorly from there. I can barely imagine anyone loving this title upon publication in 2021, let alone once time has robbed future readers of any easy context.
[Content warning for ableism including slurs.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
Which is to say, a lot of the story is an attempt to portray what it's like to be Extremely Online, tapped into that stream of global consciousness that delivers up milkshake ducks and memes and post-ironic viral tweets in an ever-accelerating cycle, a brilliant but toxic but mostly just weird digital ecosystem that's hard to fully grasp from the outside. Author Patricia Lockwood captures that essence perhaps better than any novelist I've seen, and I can definitely relate to her protagonist's difficulty explaining what's made her laugh to a spouse who's less plugged-in.
At the same time, the writer is much harsher towards that uniquely modern mode of technologically-enhanced existence than I think is entirely fair, although her critiques are largely by implication rather than expressed outright. And that's the biggest problem with this project: it is incredibly disjointed and aimless, achieving the occasional sharp insight but couching everything in needlessly florid language. Donald Trump is called only "the dictator." The internet itself is "the portal." And for more than half the book, there's no plot to speak of whatsoever.
Then a little past the midway point, our heroine gets news of complications in her sister's pregnancy, which helps ground the narrative in emotional stakes and a structure that has been completely absent before. (It's also based somewhat on Lockwood's own family history, I gather.) I greatly prefer that part of the work, despite the clumsily offensive ignorance-is-bliss metaphor linking the baby born with minimal brain function to people who can manage to keep themselves off social media.
The text as a whole, though, isn't great. The bifurcation between its separate halves is too acute, and the larger early section is a fever dream of nonsense even for those of us who can generally follow along. I've picked up on many references to real events, but I couldn't rightly classify the rest as either items I happened to miss over the past few years or pure invented hyperbole standing in for them satirically. It channels the experience of virtual life in the Trump era, floundering in a tide of rising extremism egged on by the bully-in-chief and rapid-fire swings in the zeitgeist of acceptable discourse, yet it does so in a way that's already off-putting now and seems guaranteed to age poorly from there. I can barely imagine anyone loving this title upon publication in 2021, let alone once time has robbed future readers of any easy context.
[Content warning for ableism including slurs.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
kristinebenoit's review
2.0
As noted in other ratings this indeed felt out of date. Rather boring and frankly not well written at all. Disappointing.
leakaroo's review against another edition
DNF- This book is really not for me! I will give merit to Lockwood for clearly knowing the ins and outs of how social media works. Plus her writing isn't childish or anything, it's actually quite good and poetic. I can see why people like this and I can see how it got shortlisted for the Booker.
I just personally don't enjoy the layout or the direction she took with this. I do get that it's meant to imitate short twitter posts, or the unease when you're watching Tiktok and one moment there's a post about a funny dog, and the next is some devastating war news. Even though I get why the writing is set up like this, the execution was just not there for me. I was really trying to push through until the end of this book, but kept struggling to keep up with what the author was saying because the jumps are so quick and you have to completely rearrange yourself every time. It's just to the point where it's really not enjoyable and I couldn't cling to anything. Plus just found it soooo boring!!!
If I had finished it I probably would've rated it like 2 stars or 2.5.
I just personally don't enjoy the layout or the direction she took with this. I do get that it's meant to imitate short twitter posts, or the unease when you're watching Tiktok and one moment there's a post about a funny dog, and the next is some devastating war news. Even though I get why the writing is set up like this, the execution was just not there for me. I was really trying to push through until the end of this book, but kept struggling to keep up with what the author was saying because the jumps are so quick and you have to completely rearrange yourself every time. It's just to the point where it's really not enjoyable and I couldn't cling to anything. Plus just found it soooo boring!!!
If I had finished it I probably would've rated it like 2 stars or 2.5.
gothicaavrilraven's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25