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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I found this book strangely compelling. It’s beautifully written but parts of the book are so uncomfortable to read.
The book deals with some very strange subjects including the extreme over sexualisation of children and incest with no apparent reasoning behind it.
Despite this I still found that I wanted to read on, even just to see if anything was explained (which it isn’t really)
The book deals with some very strange subjects including the extreme over sexualisation of children and incest with no apparent reasoning behind it.
Despite this I still found that I wanted to read on, even just to see if anything was explained (which it isn’t really)
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
sad
slow-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
It was gross for reasons I don’t totally understand but it made me think rather than throw me or put me off. I loved the story and I kinda saw the ending coming the closer we got to it which to me revealed that the writer followed the inner-logic of the story because it couldn’t have gone any other way, not if it wanted to stay true to itself. Very unique story, much slower than I imagined it to be, and unlike anything I’ve read
This is by far the most excruciating and exhausting drivel I have ever wasted my time on.
It starts off promising; there is something charming to the unique narrative voice and the lengthy descriptions of the mundane. It even elicits an occasional chuckle. But as it goes on this style quickly gets old and repetitive, and now that I’ve finished, I hate similes with a burning passion.
The worst thing about this book is that nothing really HAPPENS. I was so tempted to give up once I was halfway through, but I struggled on to the very last page in the vain hope that there would be some redeeming twist. Alas, no.
Sure, Matthies dies at one point (not that this matters much, the reader isn’t really given a reason to care about Matthies in the first place), and besides that a bunch of shocking scenes take place.
But none of the characters (including Jas, the narrator) really develop in any meaningful way. They start out aloof and unrelatable, and they remain aloof and unrelatable. They don’t even seem real, as such; they are practically one-dimensional.
Essentially, this is a plotless chronology of detailed descriptions of mundane occurrences, sprinkled with inane elements of shock - incest, child grooming, bestiality, excrement, random references to the Nazis. I have no objection to controversial content in literature so long as it has some kind of purpose or meaning.
As it is, this reads like the work of a borderline sociopathic teenager who (a) has just become aware of the concept of a simile and (b) wanted to put to paper the most disturbing scenes they could come up with.
How on earth this nonsense managed to get published, never mind winning the International Booker Prize, is thoroughly beyond me. I’ve read an anthology of short stories by high schoolers that was more worth my time.
It starts off promising; there is something charming to the unique narrative voice and the lengthy descriptions of the mundane. It even elicits an occasional chuckle. But as it goes on this style quickly gets old and repetitive, and now that I’ve finished, I hate similes with a burning passion.
The worst thing about this book is that nothing really HAPPENS. I was so tempted to give up once I was halfway through, but I struggled on to the very last page in the vain hope that there would be some redeeming twist. Alas, no.
Sure, Matthies dies at one point (not that this matters much, the reader isn’t really given a reason to care about Matthies in the first place), and besides that a bunch of shocking scenes take place.
But none of the characters (including Jas, the narrator) really develop in any meaningful way. They start out aloof and unrelatable, and they remain aloof and unrelatable. They don’t even seem real, as such; they are practically one-dimensional.
Essentially, this is a plotless chronology of detailed descriptions of mundane occurrences, sprinkled with inane elements of shock - incest, child grooming, bestiality, excrement, random references to the Nazis. I have no objection to controversial content in literature so long as it has some kind of purpose or meaning.
As it is, this reads like the work of a borderline sociopathic teenager who (a) has just become aware of the concept of a simile and (b) wanted to put to paper the most disturbing scenes they could come up with.
How on earth this nonsense managed to get published, never mind winning the International Booker Prize, is thoroughly beyond me. I’ve read an anthology of short stories by high schoolers that was more worth my time.
A very weird book. It is a bit terrifying in portraying a family's breaking after the death in the family. The narrator speaks in such a frank and horrifying voice that rings true to the story.
dark
slow-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
It's distrubing, hopeless but also comforting. I kept reading so the author is definitely amazing at spinning their stories. Will definitely check out more of their work.
Trigger warning for death and other disturbing themes.
Trigger warning for death and other disturbing themes.
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix