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archytas's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
"We reveled in these stories, which were not untrue. But there was some untruth in the degree to which they comforted us."
The first half of this fairly exceptional book is a savage critique of social media, and the unreality that becomes a world. Lockwood is skilled at the epigram, and the one-liners come thick and fast. The writing style bombards the reader, in a style deliberately designed to evoke the endless stimulation of the scroll, with references to meme culture, subtweets, polarised wars and the ways the in-references are cycled and recycled. It's clever, but it is all just too much and too long, and then just when you think this book is drastically overhyped, you hit the second half.
The second half has (a little) more space to breathe. It aches with joy and loss and love, and Lockwood seeks to convey how the most moving things are not reducible to pat descriptions or quips:
"The cursor blinked where her mind was. She put one true word after another and put the words in the portal. All at once they were not true, not as true as she could have made them. Where was the fiction? Distance, arrangement, emphasis, proportion? Did they only become untrue when they entered someone else’s life and butted, trivial, up against its bigness?"
Our protagonist tries to reconcile her community online ('in the portal') with this and shifts as a person, to a place both less and more grounded. This is, in the end, a morality tale - which for this reader - lay at the heart of the book's paradox: in a cry for meaning, too much here was simplified into truisms: online is unreal, meaning is in family connection - that the book had too much of the packaged emptyness it was attempting to critique. There is little meaningful exploration of the warmth and community found in social media alongside the distraction and packaging.
"“I know what you’re going through,” she said silently to the baby, “but sometimes you’ll be scrolling along, and NASA will post a picture of the stars.”"
The first half of this fairly exceptional book is a savage critique of social media, and the unreality that becomes a world. Lockwood is skilled at the epigram, and the one-liners come thick and fast. The writing style bombards the reader, in a style deliberately designed to evoke the endless stimulation of the scroll, with references to meme culture, subtweets, polarised wars and the ways the in-references are cycled and recycled. It's clever, but it is all just too much and too long, and then just when you think this book is drastically overhyped, you hit the second half.
The second half has (a little) more space to breathe. It aches with joy and loss and love, and Lockwood seeks to convey how the most moving things are not reducible to pat descriptions or quips:
"The cursor blinked where her mind was. She put one true word after another and put the words in the portal. All at once they were not true, not as true as she could have made them. Where was the fiction? Distance, arrangement, emphasis, proportion? Did they only become untrue when they entered someone else’s life and butted, trivial, up against its bigness?"
Our protagonist tries to reconcile her community online ('in the portal') with this and shifts as a person, to a place both less and more grounded. This is, in the end, a morality tale - which for this reader - lay at the heart of the book's paradox: in a cry for meaning, too much here was simplified into truisms: online is unreal, meaning is in family connection - that the book had too much of the packaged emptyness it was attempting to critique. There is little meaningful exploration of the warmth and community found in social media alongside the distraction and packaging.
"“I know what you’re going through,” she said silently to the baby, “but sometimes you’ll be scrolling along, and NASA will post a picture of the stars.”"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Miscarriage
Moderate: Abortion
connieischill's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Ableism, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault
leenanorms's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, and Grief
alylentz's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-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? Yes
4.5
This was absolutely engrossing in the first half, and then an absolute gut punch in the second that I was completely unprepared for in the best way. It felt like being an alien introduced to social media, where things are vaguely recognizable but also incomprehensible. Every time I turned to Twitter while reading this I felt detached and a little nauseated, but I think in a really healthy way. And I wept at the end. This book manages to be funny, deeply moving, has a totally unique voice, and got me to assess habits I don't always think about. This is the second work of Patricia Lockwood's I've loved: it was eagerly anticipated, completely unexpected, and exceeded my expectations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Grief
Minor: Ableism, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, and Abortion
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