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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
***These are my random thoughts after finishing the book. Some of the thoughts are an overall review of the book, or any questions/feelings that nagged at me throughout. There will almost definitely be spoilers. Read at your own risk.*** ‐----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 stars
Pitiable, disturbed
Not as crazy as I expected it to be after reading Lapvona
Felt the build-up go on for too long
Strong feeling of Rebecca as an alternate personality
3 stars
Pitiable, disturbed
Not as crazy as I expected it to be after reading Lapvona
Felt the build-up go on for too long
Strong feeling of Rebecca as an alternate personality
I don't know how to feel about this one. It was certainly strange and probably would've been much better if the action in the last two chapters happened more towards the middle because I almost gave up at one point
i like how this is marketed as a thriller as if nothing fucking happens for 90% of the book. throughout the book youre aware that eileen is going to leave town. she'll pack up and abandon her little life and fuck off into the world. apparently she has a much better life afterwards, but until she leaves shes living an uninteresting existence dominate by her alcoholic father and soul sucking job at the local juvie. until she meets a woman name rebecca, the book is more of the same. shes small bitter and cold. what else is there?
i do like the ending and how long it took to build up to that climax especially because i guess i didnt see it coming. but it took so fucking long to get to the twist that i kept considering dropping the book. i really felt like a huge part of this book was just a waste of my time.
HUGE EDIT: okay i wrote this original review on ambien so it literally didnt make any sense lmao. anyway i want to expand a little bit on the pacing issues i felt this book had. i was basically forcing myself to keep going through the first third of the book which is never a pleasant feeling. i think that the author really wanted to emphasize just how boring eileens life was before she meets rebecca but i thought we shouldve had more of them together. once they meet the plot really does pick up but rebeccas only in it for the last 1/3.
the book also ends so abruptly that i felt like i was missing pages at the end. after all that slow burn build up and character exploration the story ends and no one learns anything and nothing is resolved.
i sort of enjoyed this but i really only finished it because of the sunk cost fallacy lmao. like i had already spent so much time reading it and getting nothing out of it that i just kept going. ill be honest, it really DOES pick up once rebecca shows up but if the first part of the book seems boring then drop it. the twist and climax isnt really worth it and kind of comes out of nowhere....this is nowhere near as good as moshfegh's my year of rest and relaxation.
i do like the ending and how long it took to build up to that climax especially because i guess i didnt see it coming. but it took so fucking long to get to the twist that i kept considering dropping the book. i really felt like a huge part of this book was just a waste of my time.
HUGE EDIT: okay i wrote this original review on ambien so it literally didnt make any sense lmao. anyway i want to expand a little bit on the pacing issues i felt this book had. i was basically forcing myself to keep going through the first third of the book which is never a pleasant feeling. i think that the author really wanted to emphasize just how boring eileens life was before she meets rebecca but i thought we shouldve had more of them together. once they meet the plot really does pick up but rebeccas only in it for the last 1/3.
the book also ends so abruptly that i felt like i was missing pages at the end. after all that slow burn build up and character exploration the story ends and no one learns anything and nothing is resolved.
i sort of enjoyed this but i really only finished it because of the sunk cost fallacy lmao. like i had already spent so much time reading it and getting nothing out of it that i just kept going. ill be honest, it really DOES pick up once rebecca shows up but if the first part of the book seems boring then drop it. the twist and climax isnt really worth it and kind of comes out of nowhere....this is nowhere near as good as moshfegh's my year of rest and relaxation.
Hm. I’m not sure how I feel entirely. For a majority of the book I was enthralled, finding time to pick it up again throughout the day. The writing is exquisite and I was sure I’d give it five stars. The ending, however, was somewhat of a let down for me. It didn’t seem to have the depth the rest of the book offered.
3.5 stars. it dragged in the middle, i wish the whole book had been written like the ending, and i wish there had been a little more substance to make the suspense worth it. a really good bell jar-esque character study if that’s what you care for.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
A great listen! I really enjoy (well-written) books that focus on one character's personality and innermost thoughts, and Moshfegh writes them REALLY well.
It had a touch of thriller about it too and that helped the quality of the audiobook, which the narrator was brilliant at narrating.
It had a touch of thriller about it too and that helped the quality of the audiobook, which the narrator was brilliant at narrating.
I love a book narrated by a self-loathing, unlikeable character. Eileen is a self-confessed "bad" person but I felt a lot of sympathy for her. The impending sense of doom, her obsessions, her fantasies, and her morbid thoughts reminded me of the characters in Patricia Highsmith's work. A flawless debut novel.
couldn’t finish which is sad because I loved Moshfeghs other books.