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Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment
Stating the obvious, the book flows like a river. The writing's great, descriptions' great yada yada yada...
Finished the book in 3 days. That says enough.
Now, the interesting stuff...
I found the main character insufferable, which is absolutely fine, characters do NOT have to be likeable, but Mellors tried SO hard to make her likeable by mentioning just how likeable she is (how convenient) which made me dislike her even more.
TW//
The book also features PRETTY heavy themes like alcoholism, drug abuse, animal cruelty, su!cide, self-h@rm, and the list goes on....without ever really diving into the complexity and complications of each struggle, thereby making the character's problems seem shallow (they are not!!!)
Along with having like a bazillion unnecessary characters, this, too, was unnecessary. Towards the end of the book, it felt as if Mellors was just throwing in as much trauma as she possibly can for that shocker effect. Unfortunately, that had a counter effect. It made me desensitised to much of the events in the novel.
traumatised characters ≠ unconditional sympathy
I've read books with way fewer events going on but had a much deeper attachment to the characters.
Frustratingly, this could have been such a good book....
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Suicide
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria
There is one queer character, Quentin, who forms part of the main storyline but his character is not developed as much as some of the other characters as the book progresses. Big spoilers ahead.
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexual harassment
With this bad representation it would have been better if all characters were cis white.
Besides that it felt like reading about different kinds of rich white assholes that are addicted to drugs and destroy themselves and others and do not communicate with others.
I di understand where the hype comes from though, because I do like the style and it's intriguing to find out how all these mosaic pieces fit together.
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Alcohol
Minor: Racial slurs, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fatphobia, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Abandonment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
- i liked that eleanor was in first person. it felt like we knew her intrinsically. she was the most ordinary and therefore she could speak to us directly
- i wish the sex was more descriptive
- i wish the self harm was too. i didn’t understand the gravity of the harm cleo had caused to herself until the mention of the scar that travelled from her write to her elbow.
- i liked that we got to know about frank’s 5, and queinten… all these people whose personal lives intertwined and segmented in fascinating fans of darkness and depth. the third person descriptions of the characters and their thoughts and feelings were done with so much clarity and vivid expression that made the reader really feel a connection to the character and their emotions.
- there was something about the segmented nature of eleanor’s sections that felt extremely personal,almost diaristic. there was a generosity to them that felt as though they weren’t meant for anyone else to read. i feel like the stars between sections represent lapses in time that also further this sense of a personal diary. that’s also why it feels so generous to. the idea that she has chosen to share so much of herself. releasing everything she writes her to everything outside of her control
- the resolve that the end was very satisfying
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment
Mellors writes in the modern style, I first encountered when I read “Girl. Woman. Other.” It’s pervasive, a book on my tbr list, “I’m a Fan” is also written in a similar style. Morally grey characters who make morally ambiguous decisions. Cheat on their partners, humiliate themselves in public and are never sober.
I can never read more than a couple of these books a year. They’re too modern. I prefer confronting my emotions through several layers of illusion. This one, was brilliant however.
The characters are well-crafted, written with such empathy that it’s easy to see yourself reflected back in them, even the bad bits. Frank’s story particularly resonated with me.
Theme exploration in this book felt like a caress. It felt like someone had dug deep underneath my defences and helped rearrange things. Finishing this felt like I’d shaken something out of a favourite coat. I understand myself better now.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria
Minor: Animal death