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2.94 AVERAGE
2.94 AVERAGE
This book just wasn’t for me. You know that red minus sign Sims get when they’re interacting with someone they don’t like? That was me reading this book. If you don’t need or want a book that has characters with any redeeming qualities then I’m sure this book will be great for you. The writing itself was good, I just couldn’t stand the main character.
Victoria is a psychopath who isn’t doing herself any favors by letting literally everyone she knows walk all over her. And the ending?? You’ve got to be kidding me. She’s just as bad as everyone else. Except Luke, who seems to be the only innocent party here.
Victoria is a psychopath who isn’t doing herself any favors by letting literally everyone she knows walk all over her. And the ending?? You’ve got to be kidding me. She’s just as bad as everyone else. Except Luke, who seems to be the only innocent party here.
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
great ending. i literally love things that end with the main character just. refusing to learn their lesson. i just love it. her awful family and just. everyone being awful made me kinda sad tbh
not sure about this one … at first I liked it because the protagonist (feels weird to call her that though) uses books as a shield (relatable!) and is very much in her head which resonated with me, though my mind-jaunts are more on what I would really like to say to the inane parent group chat for my kids’ sports teams and less on how I would try to off my husband. As the infidelities became realities, I just wanted to finish the book and move on.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
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:
No
Quite possibly the worst book I have ever read. I kept thinking there was a twist and this author could not have written a whole book with one of the weakest female characters ever. Ugh. Almost 7 hours of my life I'm not getting back. Huge disappointment.
3.75 stars, rounded up.
Victoria, a masseuse, is married to Eric, a lawyer. Victoria’s life is fairly comfortable. She and Eric live in a very nice, very white apartment in the city. Eric is on his way to making partner in his firm. Their parents are such good friends, in fact they are the ones who set Eric and Victoria up. However, Victoria and Eric aren’t really so happy.
Eric is buttoned up tight. His first wife left him for her trainer. On the rebound, Victoria snatched him up. After all, she does have a comfortable life. Eric loves TV, and Victoria loves to read. While Eric is watching his shows, Victoria reads her latest novel. Their social life mostly consists of monthly dinners with the parents. Victoria is bored.
So when she spots a very handsome man at her local cafe, she is smitten. Obsessed. Willing to go to great lengths to imagine Eric’s demise and her finding a relationship with this unknown male. Her very imaginative brain comes up with all sorts of ways for Eric to come to his end. Not that she’d ever consider actually putting any of these ideas into play.
This is a darkly humorous novel about not being happy with what you have and always wanting what you don’t. Victoria doesn’t have a lot of cause for unhappiness, but when she sees some new shiny thing, she’s tired of the man she has. It’s an entertaining book and an easy read. Victoria isn’t very likable as a character or a person, but then neither is her husband Eric. Neither of them has a lot of redeeming qualities. Yet, I did enjoy the read.
Victoria, a masseuse, is married to Eric, a lawyer. Victoria’s life is fairly comfortable. She and Eric live in a very nice, very white apartment in the city. Eric is on his way to making partner in his firm. Their parents are such good friends, in fact they are the ones who set Eric and Victoria up. However, Victoria and Eric aren’t really so happy.
Eric is buttoned up tight. His first wife left him for her trainer. On the rebound, Victoria snatched him up. After all, she does have a comfortable life. Eric loves TV, and Victoria loves to read. While Eric is watching his shows, Victoria reads her latest novel. Their social life mostly consists of monthly dinners with the parents. Victoria is bored.
So when she spots a very handsome man at her local cafe, she is smitten. Obsessed. Willing to go to great lengths to imagine Eric’s demise and her finding a relationship with this unknown male. Her very imaginative brain comes up with all sorts of ways for Eric to come to his end. Not that she’d ever consider actually putting any of these ideas into play.
This is a darkly humorous novel about not being happy with what you have and always wanting what you don’t. Victoria doesn’t have a lot of cause for unhappiness, but when she sees some new shiny thing, she’s tired of the man she has. It’s an entertaining book and an easy read. Victoria isn’t very likable as a character or a person, but then neither is her husband Eric. Neither of them has a lot of redeeming qualities. Yet, I did enjoy the read.
3.5 stars
If i had to describe this book in one word, that word would be UNHINGED.
If i had to describe this book in one word, that word would be UNHINGED.
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I would’ve felt more sympathetic to Victoria if she wasn’t constantly daydreaming about her husband dying.
Before I wrote this I went and looked at some of the comments on this book, and I laughed at all the people who mentioned they did not like the main character, Victoria. Do they think they are supposed to like Victoria? Victoria spends a good chunk of this book imagining ways her husband might die, mostly at her hand. And that husband is self-involved, entitled, very unsexy, but he is not evil - I cannot imagine anyone would be so invested in rooting for his death that Victoria's obsession with killing him would seem in any way acceptable, let alone a characteristic that would make her likable. So go into this knowing that you are travelling alongside a narrator who is not a person you would choose as a best friend. In fact, Victoria has a best friend who is the definition of basic and is heartbreakingly needy, so you should hope she would not want you as a best friend either.
Bookworm is a very dark (like black hole dark) comedy about marriage, and privilege, and adulting. I will keep my discussion of the happenings in the book to a minimum. Victoria is a person who has never asserted her agency, possibly because doing so would mean she might lose the very cushy and easy (though stultifying) life she has. Rather than making changes she seeks opportunities to create a clean slate and to thereafter draw a world that is certain, like the worlds in her beloved books. But of course, after the last page of any book nothing is fixed anymore and anything can happen next -- Victoria though turns out to be pretty good at orchestrating the circumstances needed for the endings she desires.
The two adjectives I would use to describe this book are cynical and twisted, and those are two adjectives I like very much. This is the perfect anti-Valentine's Day read!
Bookworm is a very dark (like black hole dark) comedy about marriage, and privilege, and adulting. I will keep my discussion of the happenings in the book to a minimum. Victoria is a person who has never asserted her agency, possibly because doing so would mean she might lose the very cushy and easy (though stultifying) life she has. Rather than making changes she seeks opportunities to create a clean slate and to thereafter draw a world that is certain, like the worlds in her beloved books. But of course, after the last page of any book nothing is fixed anymore and anything can happen next -- Victoria though turns out to be pretty good at orchestrating the circumstances needed for the endings she desires.
The two adjectives I would use to describe this book are cynical and twisted, and those are two adjectives I like very much. This is the perfect anti-Valentine's Day read!