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leoniepeonie's review
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Ugh I love closing a book and thinking 'well, that was perfect'. The writing (Vogel's translation) was so compulsively readable that it felt like this book was an unstoppable tsunami just throwing me along in my little rubber dinghy - everything churned beneath the surface and it was so unnerving and bizarre and searing while being so flipping FUNNY that it was all just irresistible. Cor blimey I want to read more Lina Wolff, what a read!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Violence
elisahrg's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
alyssa_olaf's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
entvapparat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jansyn_liberty's review
3.0
I picked up this book in a cabin where I was staying without internet. For some reason I decided to read the whole thing in one weekend. Parts of it were very engaging. The writing style kept kind of reminding me of Murakami or something— Bizarre characters that are kind of post-modern + magical realism (without the magic). Something was maybe lost in translation from the Swedish? It was a good random cabin read though.
paradismaja's review against another edition
4.0
Älskar författarens sätt att leka med både tid, rum, språk och karaktärer. Så skicklig med orden!
littermentart's review against another edition
3.0
Jag lyssnade på den här, vilket jag tror är den största orsaken till att jag hade svårt att hänga med. En liten ofokuserad stund och så hade jag ibland tappat tråden. Misstänker att hade haft potential till ett bättre betyg om jag hade läst den själv.
rubywarhol's review
1.0
This was advertised as a feminist book and I really don't see how it is in any way.
The descriptions of people were almost always fatphobic and sexist. I hated all of the characters because they were pretentious, arrogant, and acting creepy.
Aside from that, nothing really happens in this book except
- a man wandering around a stranger's office for no reason and casually cheating on his wife with someone he doesn't even fancy; then insulting the woman he slept with based on her appearance and 'sex skills'
- a woman dating a man she describes as unappealing and reading books from his shelf she's not interested in (the motivation for this is unclear)
- people having bland, stiff conversations
- being rude all the time
- destroying meaningless objects for no reason and with no real consequences.
That is literally it. That's the "story". Nothing significant happens to any of the characters, nothing that makes any sense. There was no logical explanation for their behaviour and views. The atmosphere and excitement level throughout the book was comparable to a maths lesson on a Monday morning.
I kept reading because I was curious how those awful people were all connected. But it made no sense even then. Max - one of the main characters - is just a power-hungry bully without emotions who thinks he's better than everyone else. It isn't further explained why he's interested in a random Italian family or why he enjoys crushing women's self esteem. The whole book is boring, pointless, and terribly written.
I'm not sure if there was some hidden meaning that I didn't get or if it was just a book that has nothing to say. The manuscript that keeps being mentioned means absolutely nothing for the story. It's really not that deep, I was hoping to read more about linguistics or love or philosophy but it was just about how women are bad if they're fat and old.
I don't think I've ever said this about a book before but I hated it.
The descriptions of people were almost always fatphobic and sexist. I hated all of the characters because they were pretentious, arrogant, and acting creepy.
Aside from that, nothing really happens in this book except
- a man wandering around a stranger's office for no reason and casually cheating on his wife with someone he doesn't even fancy; then insulting the woman he slept with based on her appearance and 'sex skills'
- a woman dating a man she describes as unappealing and reading books from his shelf she's not interested in (the motivation for this is unclear)
- people having bland, stiff conversations
- being rude all the time
- destroying meaningless objects for no reason and with no real consequences.
That is literally it. That's the "story". Nothing significant happens to any of the characters, nothing that makes any sense. There was no logical explanation for their behaviour and views. The atmosphere and excitement level throughout the book was comparable to a maths lesson on a Monday morning.
I kept reading because I was curious how those awful people were all connected. But it made no sense even then. Max - one of the main characters - is just a power-hungry bully without emotions who thinks he's better than everyone else. It isn't further explained why he's interested in a random Italian family or why he enjoys crushing women's self esteem. The whole book is boring, pointless, and terribly written.
I'm not sure if there was some hidden meaning that I didn't get or if it was just a book that has nothing to say. The manuscript that keeps being mentioned means absolutely nothing for the story. It's really not that deep, I was hoping to read more about linguistics or love or philosophy but it was just about how women are bad if they're fat and old.
I don't think I've ever said this about a book before but I hated it.
mirandabow's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75