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mzzzmoe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Death of parent and Cancer
Minor: Domestic abuse
moriahleigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Cancer, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Rape, Medical content, Grief, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Pregnancy and Car accident
bellaruffell's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Graphic: Cancer
an_emily's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Death of parent, and Medical content
katieryn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death, and Cancer
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Rape and Physical abuse
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
πππππ
πΊοΈ The plot: When Lia receives an unexpected diagnosis, the news upends her life and those of her husband, teenage daughter, and elderly mother. Meanwhile, her body knows nothing of the word "cancer", just that Something is moving through it. Malevolent, yes. But also tricksy. Playful. It gambols through Lia's cells and the memories stored in her body, the loves and hurts she carries with her. These things are a part of her, bodily - what does it mean to let go? Will she or those she loves ever be ready for that?
When @mostardentlyalice was picking my TBR, perhaps it was a given that Maps would be on it. She has been championing this book since its release and I can totally see why - it is a triumph.
Written in playful, poetic style that takes a moment to acclimatise to then carries you along like a fairground ride, this book is both a tour through one woman's life, the ups and downs of desire and despair, and a portrait of a family struggling with anticipatory grief.
Half the story is narrated by Lia's cancer: a nymph that rummages through the mythic landscape of her body, describing organs and passages as fantastical landscapes peopled by dream-creatures from her life. It is the villain of the story, hungry to see and claim everything, determined it must survive. But these things also make it very human, very like Lia herself, not truly a villain. This is maybe the genius of the book, its ability to show that death is contained within life without simply saying it, of forcing the reader to even momentarily surrender to the acceptance of that fact. It's a grieving feeling, one of the good ones.
Naturally, to carry all this off, the writing is bonkers and beautiful and so brim-full of compassion for our past and future selves. What an absolute knockout of a debut!
πΊοΈ Read it if you like Ali Smith or Jessica Andrews (the vignette style of storytelling is similar here). Extra points for exploration of mother and daughter relationships and first love!
π« Avoid if cancer or anticipatory grief are too heavy for you to read about right now. Also if you hate experimental prose or poetry.
Graphic: Grief and Cancer
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Rape, Death, and Death of parent
sidekicksam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
However, I think this is one of those 'good book wrong time' moments, or when I really notice (again) that my English just isn't good enough yet to really get it, but I think a lot of the book's contents went over my head. It didn't work for me - perhaps because I've never been good at interpreting poetry/poetic prose, or because I've been too preoccupied with other things in my life, but I continually felt most of it went over my head. I do hope to revisit it in the future and that the second time around, I'll be able to appreciate it better.
Graphic: Cancer, Incest, Terminal illness, Death, and Death of parent
hanz's review against another edition
Itβs clearly well written, but just not for me.
Graphic: Cancer and Terminal illness
hannahshort's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Cancer, Death of parent, and Sexual content
carolineeckels's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Graphic: Cancer
Moderate: Sexual violence