Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Worry

I loved reading this book, loved these two characters and their mom spinning away from each other and back again and trying to understand why it all keeps happening and what they want. It’s got a propulsive pace and a gentle looming sense of dread (not like, Karen Russell level), and the exchanges between Poppy and Jules are *perfect*.

But I guess I’ve read too many books lately that have cliffhangery endings (the bee sting, the guest), and I’m over it. It doesn’t feel earned here. That said, I loved the rest of the book.

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mmccombs's review

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dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

The statement “I think you guys might be thinking about yourselves too much” in book form. Chronically online, full of mind-numbing Instagram conspiracy theories, endless consumption and misery and nihilism. But I swear it’s also funny! I thought the writing and character work here was very well done. It’s difficult to capture the intense kind of love that is also deeply toxic and often hateful that can exist between sisters (and mothers), knowing that these characters are acting this way out of deep love and even deeper insecurity. I do think the ending was a bit strange and out of nowhere, it kept up the themes of this book but otherwise didn’t feel like it fit, being as quick and jarring as it was. If you are a fan of messy 20-something coming of age stories, I’d say this is another solid installment, though I can’t say it’s the strongest of the genre.

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elvenpanther's review

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reflective fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I’m torn on how I should rate this book. I wouldn’t say I loved it, but I didn’t dislike it either. If I had to describe the novel in a single sentence I’d say it was a portrait of modern technology addicted millennials with mommy issues and a healthy dose of burnt-out apathy. And to be fair, this is where many real individuals of that generation are sitting in this day and age.

Poppy’s ideas about dead art, to me, are just as numbing as the ideas in the play. The shows I watch are dead. The middling novels I take apart bit by tiny bit for Booksmarts are dead. Dead art is everywhere. Dead art is my life. By the time we get inside, I’m exhausted.

The novel follows Jules and her younger sister Poppy, who has moved into her NYC apartment. The sisters have a very mercurial relationship, most likely thanks to the awful relationship they share with their mother. It feels as if their mother purposefully sows discord between the sisters because if they pull away from each other, perhaps they’ll value her time and ideas more. Their mother very much wants to maintain a position of power over her daughters and is extremely narcissistic. While both sisters had definitely dealt with a childhood full of emotional acrobatics, I believe, even though the younger of the two, Poppy was beginning the process of healing and trying to move past her traumas and struggles. Jules on the other hand was very much stuck in a rut. Between the lack of enthusiasm with her career, dissatisfaction with her perceived lack of life accomplishments, a dependency on social media and internet memes to drown out the overwhelming press of the problems around her, Jules has a lot of aspects of her personality that many could relate to. I didn’t really like Jules as a person though, I think because you could see throughout the novel that she wasn’t really trying to make an effort to improve her life. Not to mention how purposefully mean she could be towards her sister. This very likely is from mental health struggles, but it was still frustrating not to see any growth from her. I was really hoping to see the sisters grow closer in a positive way, or to at least see Jules gain a tiny sense of direction. That’s often how life goes though, so I can’t fully fault the novel’s message for that disappointment of mine.
The ending was abrupt and to many, may seem incomplete, but it fits in with the rest of the novel and it’s commentary on the bleakness of a society where we are so bombarded and overwhelmed with struggles from every angle that sometimes all we can do is numb ourselves to those issues with whatever distractions are available.

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juliapls's review

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dark funny tense slow-paced

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

2.75

I wanted this story to just say more. There were some really witty passages and interesting moments but what you get from the first few chapters of the book is all you'll get from the book. A slice of life that should have been a short story.

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Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Worry by Alexandra Tanner

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