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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
More like a 3.5/close 4. I can really appreciate the beauty of this book. The writing read poetically and was entrancing. A wonderful modernization of Oedipus, that makes you feel uncomfortable and uneasy. However, there were many parts I couldn’t figure out what was happening, or that I felt were unnecessary flouncy in their verbiage. I usually read a book in about 2-4 days and this took me about a month, because I wasn’t invested in most of the characters and wasn’t hard pressed to find out what was going to unfold. I didn’t hate it, but at the end of this year I don’t think I will remember much of it when I look back on all the tales I’ve read.
NOTES TO MYSELF: i started reading this engl 462: traditions and trends in horror fall 2024. SO far I'm on page 176 and it's quite interesting because it's a retelling of the oedipus myth which I find really fascinating especially because the oedipus-inspired character is genderfluid or trans. but they're born as a girl and then transition to a man and a big themes involves water and a river. and then there's gretel which i'm not sure what role she'll play but it's been a fun read. almost done. I finished it on 09/23/24 around 13:20 at the tlc second 1st floor tables (not ground floor) by room 140-something. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, although I don't think that I would have picked this up on my own and if I had I'm not sure if I would have finished it. But it's kind of a sad story, because margot/marcus after having figured out that he slept with his mother sarah he either dies in the river or disappears in the river never to be seen again by either gretel or sarah. Sarah dies by suicide because she wants to forget what she's done and the role she played so in the end gretel is left alone with all this. Charlie was Margot/Marcus' dad that she/he did end up killing which is also sad because charlie called him son, unlike anyone else because at that point he hadn't fully transitioned into marcus (internally) but did present in a feminine way. There wasn't too much horror and nothing really scared me about the novel or its aspects but it was still an interesting read and an intriguing retelling of the oedipus myth.
I really don’t know how I feel about this book, my rating wavers between 3 and 4 stars. The writing was FANTASTIC, the emotions were disturbing, the plot was arguably insane, and overall I’m certainly going to be thinking about this book for a while. Sort of giving Ptolemaea by Ethel Cain energy.
So rough, so lovely. Wtf. Takes a hot minute to engage you but then it has everything to break your heart.
A weird and wonderful story! I don't want to say too much as don't want to ruin it...
Fairly weird, convoluted, confusing and ultimately compelling.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I started reading this as upset of the Storygraph onboarding challenge under the "out of my comfort zone" prompt and it sure was. Also I need to double check content warnings before reading a book, as much as I like not knowing what I'm getting in to.
This book was hard to read and a bit of a slog to get through. I did actually even get the audiobook and listened to some of it that way which helped me get into it more as I could hear more of the cadence in the writing. The writing is a lot of long sentences or paragraphs that feel like they go on forever but it's all meant to really evoke the feelings and thoughts of the characters.
I will say I hate the lack of quotation marks and found it very difficult to pick up when dialogue started and ended and who was saying what at times.
However I also got to a point and went "oh no this book is gonna hit something emotional for me". Then a later point where I realised I should have checked the content warnings, because surprise incest. And then the last 2 pages had me sobbing.
I do recommend giving this a try but definitely check content warnings. It is weird, and slow.
This book was hard to read and a bit of a slog to get through. I did actually even get the audiobook and listened to some of it that way which helped me get into it more as I could hear more of the cadence in the writing. The writing is a lot of long sentences or paragraphs that feel like they go on forever but it's all meant to really evoke the feelings and thoughts of the characters.
I will say I hate the lack of quotation marks and found it very difficult to pick up when dialogue started and ended and who was saying what at times.
However I also got to a point and went "oh no this book is gonna hit something emotional for me". Then a later point where I realised I should have checked the content warnings, because surprise incest. And then the last 2 pages had me sobbing.
I do recommend giving this a try but definitely check content warnings. It is weird, and slow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Incest, Mental illness, Suicide, Dementia, Death of parent
Moderate: Deadnaming, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes