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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
A relentlessly violent, hippie-era [b: Matilda|39988|Matilda|Roald Dahl|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388793265l/39988._SY75_.jpg|1015554], where the drugged-out teenage narrator has a knife instead of telekinesis, and the sole sympathetic adult character can't rescue her from the cruelty of the adult world. Also, it's a road story. And really funny. And sad and scary.
I wanted to like this book more, but everything and everyone was so zombified and just hopeless.
Hard to read but ultimately fascinating. Will not quickly forget this one.
What a grim, grim book. Barry is a fine writer and her narrative voice never wavers and the story is filled with the darkest of dark dark humor. But good Lord is this novel relentlessly and unforgettably grim.
as with everything lynda barry touches, i really enjoyed this. it was recommended on questionland to someone looking for something like "geek love," which i've recently read, and while they both centered on a fucked-up-fathers-theme, (and i know this isn't the point) i found this more believable somehow, and less shocking-to-shock-me, but maybe geek love tempered my shock a bit.
anyway, some short notes: i'm used to many more illustrations from her, but these were unsettling enough; i like anything set in the northwest; i really liked how roberta's voice changed from the journal-ed parts to the retellings; and, as always, i love how right on the shitty teenage dialogue was.
further, i am sorry these reviews are so shitty; they're more just notes to my future self, as i constantly forget what and how much i read.
anyway, some short notes: i'm used to many more illustrations from her, but these were unsettling enough; i like anything set in the northwest; i really liked how roberta's voice changed from the journal-ed parts to the retellings; and, as always, i love how right on the shitty teenage dialogue was.
further, i am sorry these reviews are so shitty; they're more just notes to my future self, as i constantly forget what and how much i read.
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Disappointing. I LOVE Lynda Barry's comics, but novels are not her forte.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
This novel is a carnival of grotesqueries and I've never read anything like it. The story finds its center in a very original voice—that of a teenage Roberta Rohbeson. Roberta’s account of her experiences made me both gasp and laugh out loud several times, which rarely happens when I read. It is very unsettling, funny, gross, and beautiful all at once. It's a wild ride and you will feel everything along the way. The illustrations included are pitch perfect in conveying glimpses into Roberta’s grim, confusing world. This book is full of terrible people in terrible circumstances, but you will feel strangely compelled to understand all of them. It’s also very refreshing that, for once, we read about a truly unattractive girl and not the stereotypical “plain, but still pretty” image that is so prevalent in the coming of age genre. Everyone asks about her busted-up face and her dad calls her Clyde. But this is all nothing when compared to the true ugliness and horrors around her.
Has anyone even heard of this book? I feel like everyone should’ve suggested this to me a long time ago, so shame on you all. But now that it’s over, all I want to do is seek out every single thing Lynda Barry writes and illustrates. What a brain, what a treasure.
Has anyone even heard of this book? I feel like everyone should’ve suggested this to me a long time ago, so shame on you all. But now that it’s over, all I want to do is seek out every single thing Lynda Barry writes and illustrates. What a brain, what a treasure.