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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
I'm disappointed with this one. I really wanted to care for the characters but couldn't. I felt nothing. Just boredom. And all of that for a simple story that is not that interesting either...
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Interesting, not bad but not great. The pacing was very start-and-stop. Normally I like the idea of jumping around to different viewpoints and points in time, but in some instances it totally broke down the momentum of the storytelling. It's a modern retelling of Oedipus, and you know that the "big reveal" of the prophecy is coming. But when it is finally spoken out loud, I found it somewhat anticlimactic? All in all, an impressive and creative book but I felt more compelled to finish it rather than eager to finish it.
Well, I read this book having not actually recalled the story of oedipus, and well this is a retelling of that myth. So, ah well it was definitely interesting to read, and though I can’t say I enjoyed it per say it’s a decent enough book, and well written imo.
I’m blown away, it’s like I’ve been hit in the gut with a secret and a certain unknowing dread.
Eerie and haunting. I didn't read it as much as I floundered under its depth, letting the current pull me along.
One of those uncomfortably beautiful books that I'm not sure I particularly enjoyed, but I know will stay on my mind for a while.
3.5, rounded down after pondering over it for a few days.
One of those uncomfortably beautiful books that I'm not sure I particularly enjoyed, but I know will stay on my mind for a while.
3.5, rounded down after pondering over it for a few days.
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The net is cast too wide. The bool is still worth the work it takes. Lyrical and at times haunted, blending mythology the mundane, exploring our need for story. Though ambitious, the ending does capture a lot of threads that seemed to be lost and tossed away. Impressive feat for a debut, evem moreso for Daisy Johnson's age. All in all, I learned a lot and am happy I stuck with it.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Book Review
Title: Everything Under by Daisy Johnson
Genre: Literary Fiction, Magical Realism
Rating: 3.25 Stars
I didn’t know anything about this book before getting into it other than it focuses on a mother/daughter relationship. From the very beginning, the writing style cements this as literary fiction as it is written in a style between narration and stream of consciousness. We are introduced to the main character, Gretel who has been searching for her mother for nearly sixteen years after she abandoned her. Gretel has spent years phoning hospitals and morgues only to happen across her mother it seems but she has dementia or something similar. Despite this Gretel wants answers as to why her mother abandoned her and what really happened when she was a teen because her memories seem to be distorted or unclear about the actual sequence of events.
From here Gretel narrates a story that bounces between past and present but it also introduces several other characters as we don’t really know how they play into the story just yet. Gretel grew up on a riverboat with her mother and a man named Charlie who might be or might not be her father. Within the past segments she discusses the troubled relationship she had with her mother, presumably because she never wanted to be a parent, thinking herself incapable but ending up with her daughter. Her mother claims they left the river because they were being haunted or stalked by something she refers to as the Bonak, which Gretel also remembers but doesn’t really believe in it anymore. Through her we learn about Charlie who still lives on his boat but he is blind now and he ends up meeting Margot who introduces herself as Marcus who is someone Gretel has also been looking for years. It is hard to tell without being told what is happening when but there are some context clues we can use to determine this. Other than trying to get answers out of her mother who may or may not be real about her past, we also learn that Gretel is a cynical person who harbours a lot of anger towards her mother and has become isolated from the rest of the world seemingly by choice but doesn’t really enjoy it.
The further we get into this book we see that all these characters are linked and some are searching for each other. For example, Charlie is linked to Gretel and her mother and he is searching for his child while Gretel is searching for her mother. Marcus is an FtM individual who has left home and developed a friendship with the now blind Charlie while Gretel has tracked down Marcus’s parents. It king of reads like The Glass Hotel where nothing seems to make sense until the very end and I think this might be the same thing but it might not have a definitive ending. While I don’t really understand what is going on there is something so compelling about the writing style that I am continuing despite being thoroughly confused about literally everything. I do have some theories but nothing that fit together perfectly just yet.
As the halfway mark approached I was wondering again what point the book serves, especially the Bonak at first I thought it might be real since the book is labelled as magical realism but I am more inclined to believe that it is a manifestation of the character’s repressed emotions, specifically anger. For example, Gretel is angry with her mother for abandoning her, her mother was angry with Gretel and Charlie for giving her a child when she didn’t want one, Marcus is angry potentially with his parents and Fiona and Charlie is angry at Sarah for taking his child away and the Bonak might be the physical manifestation of that. That being said it doesn’t explain why these characters are always on the move either running from or hunting this creature if it isn’t real and there are folk tales about it. So far I think the most compelling story line belongs to Sarah, who raised a child she didn’t want, took that child from a potential dangerous environment on the river and did unspeakable things to raise her despite abandoning her when she was old enough to look after herself. Her struggle with dementia and her frustration at not remembering things and not being able to express herself really broke my heart and yet I understand Gretel’s anger with her mother especially when the time she is able to get answers out of her is running out with each passing day.
By the end of the book everything does make sense but it leaves a horrible taste in your mouth, when you realise what Sarah did and why she kept it a secret until she was physically unable to any longer. Finding out how Gretel, Marcus, Charlie and Sarah all tie together was honestly heart-breaking and how their lives played out was even worse especially when characters like Marcus were actively trying to avoid their fate only to walk right into it. The way the story ended left me so stunned that I had to sleep on it before writing my review which is something I hardly ever need to do. Overall, I think Everything Under was worth the read but you have to ride out the confusion to see the point of the book in the end much like The Glass Hotel but it does deal with some extremely dark themes so do check out some trigger warnings before going into it.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I finished it in less than 24 hours so yeah it's pretty good.