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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
thought i was gonna DNF this one but it caught me by surprise! i felt like i wasn’t enjoying it at most times and yet i couldn’t set it down.
i think the parallels between the narrator’s life and my own were making it uncomfortable for me, but it is such an incredibly potent and raw read. trust that i was sobbing.
i think the parallels between the narrator’s life and my own were making it uncomfortable for me, but it is such an incredibly potent and raw read. trust that i was sobbing.
i liked the story even though it was weird, made me giggle a few times but didn’t think it was anything amazing
It’s hard for me to rate this book because while I deeply appreciate it, wow was it a hard read. I am lucky that I am in enough of a decent mental space now that I can mostly distance myself from the spirals of depression and anxiety Gilda experiences and that comprise pretty much all of the novel. Austin does an excellent job of executing stream of conscious here and capturing what it is like to have depression and anxiety. Austin also succeeds in making me feel for Gilda and continue to sympathize with her even as she makes questionable choices that hurt other people. That being said, the ending left me unsatisfied. The phone call apologies she made provided some closure in addition to her conversation with Rosemary, but the most satisfying thing that would have happened didn’t. For me, that would have been Gilda going to therapy. Instead, she basically wakes up and all of a sudden seems to have her life together. I can believe that after her realizations and accepting her emotions, she is in a better emotional and mental state and may even have a good day afterwards. But it is unrealistic to me that after that, she is doing so much better without the help of a professional. I will say, the ending is fairly open, so perhaps her going to therapy is assumed? Still, I think it would have given me more closure if it was actually written that she was going to therapy and if she had a conversation with her family, particularly her brother. Without this, it felt a bit rushed.
Despite having a few qualms, I am glad I read this book. I can’t say that I enjoyed all of it because of the very nature of the novel, but I appreciate that characters like Gilda are being written, especially as someone who relates to her struggles.
Despite having a few qualms, I am glad I read this book. I can’t say that I enjoyed all of it because of the very nature of the novel, but I appreciate that characters like Gilda are being written, especially as someone who relates to her struggles.
dark
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.7/5 stars. A really weird chaotic book that puts into words how your brain can feel with anxiety and/or depression. Is felt like reading this actually was a mix of completely overboard and totally accurate— definitely depends on the person but really enjoyed reading this and it felt invigorating seeing some of the things I feel and experience written out on paper in such a clear way.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel like a speck of dust and simultaneously the importance of every little soul on this planet.
(this is a slightly altered recitation)
I did not at all expect this book to make me cry so much.
I deeply and thoroughly feel for this protagonist. Gilda, with all her helpless nihilism, her deep depression, the furrowing detachment as a blinded act of escapism.
The book is structured like a long, spiraling string of thought. You are so immensely close to the closed-off MC.
She has my heart, she made me cry, I want to read this over and over and over again.
Oh, Gilda — I know the sea feels endlessly deep and drowning deems inescapable, but for a while you can swim, and others will join, and sometimes float on, and sometimes stay.
Welp, we are indeed just tiny little specks of dust on this tiny little planet — but all with roaring, beating hearts and eyes that sense wonder and voices echoing love.