Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Permafrost

Baltasar is first and foremost a poet. That much is obvious by the lyrical nature of 'Permafrost'. I have adored everything Baltasar has written, and I am looking forward to her upcoming novel.

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sharktownwoman's review against another edition

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dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The writing in this book wowed. The content disturbed. The humor was excellent. This was an engrossing read.

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literary_nikki's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

It's taken me a few days and a whole other book to digest this book and it's still flitting about my head like the windows screensaver of old. For a novel where the narrator is so utterly consumed by suicidal thoughts, it still somehow manages to be funny and liberating and full of life and I do not have the foggiest idea how she manages it. I suspect poetry runs through Baltasar's veins. Admittedly, I've only read the English translation but I doubt that anything is lost from the original Catalan. It's a journey through the song lyrics you never understood.

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m_k_busslag's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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jai_ls's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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gansey_02's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

permafrost is a book abt death, sex and the drudgery of everyday life, told thru the pov of a lesbian narrator drifting from one place to another, from the arms of a lover to the next. the narrative voice is darkly dry, occasionally funny and bemusingly relatable. as a story, however, it's too stagnant for my taste: multiple chapters and events are so similar that they blur into each other, w/ the story simply droning on and on w/o reprieve, and eventually taking me a week to finish despite being a very slim volume.

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drlark's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

3.5

A meandering, mostly vibes meditation on having/not having kids, sex and sexuality, suicide, and familial love. I like the complexity of the narrator -- a woman drifting through life who just wants to read books, have lots of sex with lots of women, and determine the right time to exit the world. Though that last one gets consistently derailed. Sometimes funny, sometimes super dark, and sometimes over-written, this is a quick, moody read that I picked up for Women In Translation Month. Glad I did, as it definitely has a European sensibility -- our narrator moving from Barcelona to Scotland to Belgium, teaching Spanish, speaking Catalan, and au pair-ing in English -- that I enjoyed.

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