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dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
Reality blurs as this character slowly spirals in a pill-induced haze down the rabbit hole of her own failures. Addicts and disabled folx will identify with this story, theatre lovers will find it amusing, and no one will know what is real and what is not. This book was meant to convey how women go insane from not being believed about their pain. But it turned out to be more about how addiction/lack of therapy & proper medical care/delusions can lead to a downward spiral. But hey, all's well that ends well, right?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Grief, Gaslighting, Dysphoria
Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical trauma
Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Medical content, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
god i love love LOVED the beginning of the book and the depictions of chronic pain so much, they way they were written were so interesting and real and relatable. i also really love that i was at times angrily on miranda’s side, while at other times i felt horrifically guilty for almost beginning to doubt her pain and deem her an unreliable narrator, like everyone else in her life clearly has. the book was a bit confusing, and the end didn’t quite satisfy me, but i still absolutely adored the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma
Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Blood, Gaslighting
What a vicious, chaotic book that I loved. It absolutely lulled me into a false sense of security for the first half and I forgot it’s also a horror from Mona Awad’s bizarre brain and it got dark. But where Bunny didn’t stick the landing for me, this absolutely did. I think it’s an incredible social commentary piece, though the first 100 pages are slow going (though I do think that may have been me trying to read this during finals). The hallucinations at the end get hard to parse from reality but I do believe that’s the point - major Black Swan vibes once we got deep into the rehearsal process. Either way it can only get 5 stars from me. Twisty and positively bizarre. I adore a woman antihero and want more books like this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug use, Sexual violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
THIS BOOK. Wow. This was wild.
This book recreates chronic pain, ableism and healthism, and medical trauma very well. I'm not sure I've read another novel like this, especially not one staged with so many supernatural and thriller-like elements. The scenes between Miranda and her PT were excruciating and hyper-realistic. You can tell Mona Awad's had her own pain and disillusionment with the medical-industrial complex.
Miranda is an amazingly developed and flawed character, and reading through her perspectiveespecially as she becomes more frantic and manic throughout the book is captivating. The mix between supernatural mysticism and Shakespeare retelling is littered just enough to make the plot work, but Miranda, the harm done to her, and the harm she does take center stage.
Miranda's use of Brianna and Ellie as caricatures heightens the drama, especially early on, and I was cringing with Miranda's simultaneous pity and love-bombing of Grace. And the blurs between Paul and Hugo... oof. I feel like Miranda herself and Miranda's view on the people around her strayed close to stereotyping at points, but the narration was so carefully orchestrated to make that the scary point? Like, how ordinary this story is and how easily we can ignore the complexity and humanity of others? And the ending was really bittersweet with this slight zoom outward to all the women in chronic pain, potentially haunted in similar storylines. It wasn't too heavy-handed and it brought everything in the novel to an emotional and targeted end.
This book recreates chronic pain, ableism and healthism, and medical trauma very well. I'm not sure I've read another novel like this, especially not one staged with so many supernatural and thriller-like elements. The scenes between Miranda and her PT were excruciating and hyper-realistic. You can tell Mona Awad's had her own pain and disillusionment with the medical-industrial complex.
Miranda is an amazingly developed and flawed character, and reading through her perspective
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical trauma
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual violence, Alcohol