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mmcloe's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
A very tight and mean and gorgeous novel. It's got me thinking a lot about how we represent ourselves and present ourselves for/through other people, especially our romantic and interpersonal relationships. The novel is, to me, about spectatorship and artist-audience relationships and the blurring of those lines as well as confounding what we mean by "art." I think these themes tease out very smartly the way that Gen Z process intersecting race/class/gender/sexual identities in whatever hell-stage of capitalism we're currently in. A novel for the 2020s, definitely.
Also, Leilani's prose is just masterful. I love how light and bouncy and observant and satirical it is.
Also, Leilani's prose is just masterful. I love how light and bouncy and observant and satirical it is.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Police brutality, Abortion, and Racial slurs
kimthezombie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion and Racism
astridrc's review against another edition
challenging
tense
medium-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
2.5
I didn't even know which boxes to tick for this review. It was compelling but I didn't fully get what was happening at times. It gets weird and too messy at times, so it was hard to relate. All of the characters are in serious need of therapy.
Also, I read the translated to Spanish version and I think that didn't help either. Latin American readers, we need something that lets us know if the translation is from Spain. I swear it's truly painful at times. Ironically, it's definitely harder than reading in English which is not my mother tongue.
Also, I read the translated to Spanish version and I think that didn't help either. Latin American readers, we need something that lets us know if the translation is from Spain. I swear it's truly painful at times. Ironically, it's definitely harder than reading in English which is not my mother tongue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Miscarriage, Addiction, Racism, and Toxic relationship
bookishcookiemonster's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
When I was reccomend this book, i wasn't given too many details and I'm glad for that.
Where it started and where it ended, not at all what I was expecting.
I love messy characters and this book is FULL of messy characters.
Made me reflect on how we really don't know what is happening in the lives of people around us.
Where it started and where it ended, not at all what I was expecting.
I love messy characters and this book is FULL of messy characters.
Made me reflect on how we really don't know what is happening in the lives of people around us.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Physical abuse, Vomit, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Infertility, Abortion, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism
Minor: Gun violence and Suicidal thoughts
thenovelmaura's review
challenging
dark
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
2.0
I knew before I started that I probably wouldn't love this book, simply because it's character-driven literary fiction and that isn't my usual fare (it was a Christmas gift). However, this ended up being particularly hard for me to read because I couldn't find much to appreciate beyond the perspective of a life I'll never live (a black 23-year-old woman in NYC who is in a relationship with a married man). It was well-written in some respects but was also overloaded with metaphors and comparisons that felt unnecessary. I'm all for realism and I don't expect every story to be upbeat and free from struggles or pain or awkwardness; what I couldn't get over was how none of the characters in the story (besides Akila, who is 13) acted logically or said what they actually meant.
I was interested in the storyline if only because I had no idea why these things were happening and what would come next, so that was compelling in a "can't look away" way. But if the book wasn't so short I probably wouldn't have been able to finish it. This quote sums up Edie's character pretty well: "I almost lose a seat to a woman who gets on at Union Square, but luckily her pregnancy slows her down." If you know you won't be able to force your way through a novel where the main character's primary trait is a blatant disregard for anyone who isn't her, then you should avoid this one.
I was interested in the storyline if only because I had no idea why these things were happening and what would come next, so that was compelling in a "can't look away" way. But if the book wasn't so short I probably wouldn't have been able to finish it. This quote sums up Edie's character pretty well: "I almost lose a seat to a woman who gets on at Union Square, but luckily her pregnancy slows her down." If you know you won't be able to force your way through a novel where the main character's primary trait is a blatant disregard for anyone who isn't her, then you should avoid this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Racism
Moderate: Police brutality
Minor: Abortion
livimack's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The book feels like an angsty, pretentious poem, written in the tone of a modern short story - but in a way that heavily resonates with the tone of our generation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Abortion, and Police brutality
snavehannah's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Suicide, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Drug use
Minor: Animal death
itsbumley's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Abortion, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Drug use, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Racism, and Sexual content
kaicedcoffee's review
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Racism, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Abortion
ulmaridae's review
"God is not for women, he is for the Fruit. He makes you want and he makes you wicked, and while you sleep he plants a seed in your womb that will be born just to die."
"All the raw materials that are gathered and processed into shadow and light, the pigment drawn from sand and canterbury bells, the carbon black drawn from fire and spread onto slick cave walls. A way is always made to document how we manage to survive. Or in some cases, how we don't. So I've tried to reproduce an inscrutable thing: I've made my own hunger into a practice. Made everyone who passes through my life subject to a close and inappropriate reading that occasionally finds its way, often insufficiently, into paint. And when I am alone with myself, this is what I am waiting for someone to do to me. With merciless, deliberate hands, to put me down onto the canvas so that when I'm gone, there will be a record. Proof that I was here."
Though the subject matter of this book was sad and often uncomfortable, the writing was absolutely breathtaking and almost trance-like.
"All the raw materials that are gathered and processed into shadow and light, the pigment drawn from sand and canterbury bells, the carbon black drawn from fire and spread onto slick cave walls. A way is always made to document how we manage to survive. Or in some cases, how we don't. So I've tried to reproduce an inscrutable thing: I've made my own hunger into a practice. Made everyone who passes through my life subject to a close and inappropriate reading that occasionally finds its way, often insufficiently, into paint. And when I am alone with myself, this is what I am waiting for someone to do to me. With merciless, deliberate hands, to put me down onto the canvas so that when I'm gone, there will be a record. Proof that I was here."
Though the subject matter of this book was sad and often uncomfortable, the writing was absolutely breathtaking and almost trance-like.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Abortion, Drug use, Grief, and Animal death