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0802kelley's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was very interesting to me. As someone with a Bachelors in Creative Writing and Literature, this read like something that I would read for class-- that is to say, it makes you think about the process of writing, of humanity, of mental illness. This was a very different read for me and I have MANY trigger warnings that I will list. But overall, this book is gritty, dirty, at times absolutely disgusting. It shows the lives of those who want to live more freely, but also are under capitalism. Can I say I "enjoyed it" per say? Not really, but its not a book that I believe is meant to be "enjoyed" I did however feel like I got a peak into a life that I never would have seen and I feel different because of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Body shaming, and Self harm
Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Child death
synapticneuron's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I've recently become a fan of books that bring stories, characters, and unique perspectives to light, and thusly stumbled into Toad.
This book certainly fills all those roles, but not in the way I had hoped. The more I read this dark, intriguing, slice-of-life/memoir, the more I hated it.
The characters all are unsightly people who make sure the world knows how bitter or blind they are to it. I felt almost no pity or remorse for the plight that they constantly dove into. They make decisions that want to make you rip your hair out, close the book, and perhaps even burn it.
That being said, I kept reading.
Moreso to hold alight this morbidly interestingly life that the late Kathrine Dunn procured in her brain. A story once lost, but unearthed post-death to live a new life. She has such a way with words, and it's captivating power would keep taking me by surprise with it's intricate and intimate prose.
But more often that power was used to twist the reader's vision into the mud. You get to know it's taste and textures, and who's boot has last been in it. Maybe too familiar.
I think that gritty familiarity, as bitter as it is, just may help you understand the people you pass by, and world you walk in.
I felt torn in the usefulness of the tagged content warnings. How these elements were used, and is a driving reason I would not recommend this book.
This book certainly fills all those roles, but not in the way I had hoped. The more I read this dark, intriguing, slice-of-life/memoir, the more I hated it.
The characters all are unsightly people who make sure the world knows how bitter or blind they are to it. I felt almost no pity or remorse for the plight that they constantly dove into. They make decisions that want to make you rip your hair out, close the book, and perhaps even burn it.
That being said, I kept reading.
Moreso to hold alight this morbidly interestingly life that the late Kathrine Dunn procured in her brain. A story once lost, but unearthed post-death to live a new life. She has such a way with words, and it's captivating power would keep taking me by surprise with it's intricate and intimate prose.
But more often that power was used to twist the reader's vision into the mud. You get to know it's taste and textures, and who's boot has last been in it. Maybe too familiar.
I think that gritty familiarity, as bitter as it is, just may help you understand the people you pass by, and world you walk in.
I felt torn in the usefulness of the tagged content warnings. How these elements were used, and is a driving reason I would not recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Child death, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Animal death, and Self harm
Moderate: Gore, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Excrement
Minor: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship
paperknotbooks's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Gritty w/ some SUPER infuriating characters. Lots of trigger warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Animal death, and Self harm
margyreads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Tired of thin people writing about how grotesque it is to exist as a fat person.
Dunn gives power to ugliness and outcasts and people living on the fringe, which I adore. It is, however, tender to always have fatness tied to otherness, like fat people can’t also be pretty and desirable and funny and gentle.
That major critique aside, I adore Dunn’s control of language, enjoyed the imagery, and am grateful we all are able to experience her work in new ways even after her death. This story was not quite as powerful as Geek Love, but was obviously influenced by Dunn’s life, and was the book she needed to write when she did. The introduction adds delightful depth to the book.
Dunn gives power to ugliness and outcasts and people living on the fringe, which I adore. It is, however, tender to always have fatness tied to otherness, like fat people can’t also be pretty and desirable and funny and gentle.
That major critique aside, I adore Dunn’s control of language, enjoyed the imagery, and am grateful we all are able to experience her work in new ways even after her death. This story was not quite as powerful as Geek Love, but was obviously influenced by Dunn’s life, and was the book she needed to write when she did. The introduction adds delightful depth to the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Animal death
carolinefaireymeese's review
dark
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Her sentences are unreal. I couldn’t put this book down for the Sam/Carlotta plot, but the frame narrative had excellent writing about self-protection, stagnation, regret, isolation… Dunn herself is impressive, but the editorial process of publishing an unpublished novel after the author passes away was fascinating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Drug use, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Child death
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