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wollstonecrafty's review against another edition
helen oyeyemi cleverly upsets the well worn adage about not knowing your partner until you've traveled with them. maybe knowing someone isn't the point she says! not as rich as gingerbread, but a neater story.
lavrendy's review against another edition
2.0
If adults were still assigned reading levels, this book would be above mine.
I was excited to try out Oyeyemi’s work after reading her afterword for Don’t Look at Me Like That by Diana Athill. Athill’s writing was straightforward and pleasant, and I had guessed that Oyememi’s style would be similar. Instead, I was thrown into a chaotic jumble of endlessly multiplying characters, plot points, and metaphors. It was all way too much for me to process via audio.
This type of confusion was tiring because it all made sense at the sentence-level, but when I tried to figure out what was going on or why we were getting into it, I could never connect the dots. It was like a dream where you hop from one scene to the next without any cohesive transitions.
If I had known beforehand that her world was somewhat closer to Ali Smith’s or Clarice Lispector’s, I definitely would have gone in with a physical copy and a more open mind. Should’ve done my research but I’m not sure that I’d love this book even under different circumstances. I finished it because I’ve conditioned myself to only be productive if I’m listening to something at all times lol
I was excited to try out Oyeyemi’s work after reading her afterword for Don’t Look at Me Like That by Diana Athill. Athill’s writing was straightforward and pleasant, and I had guessed that Oyememi’s style would be similar. Instead, I was thrown into a chaotic jumble of endlessly multiplying characters, plot points, and metaphors. It was all way too much for me to process via audio.
This type of confusion was tiring because it all made sense at the sentence-level, but when I tried to figure out what was going on or why we were getting into it, I could never connect the dots. It was like a dream where you hop from one scene to the next without any cohesive transitions.
If I had known beforehand that her world was somewhat closer to Ali Smith’s or Clarice Lispector’s, I definitely would have gone in with a physical copy and a more open mind. Should’ve done my research but I’m not sure that I’d love this book even under different circumstances. I finished it because I’ve conditioned myself to only be productive if I’m listening to something at all times lol
lyricluciferin's review against another edition
4.5
This was unlike a lot of the other stuff i read and really interesting. Ending felt a little rushed but I really appreciated how it left so many things unanswered.
anpu325's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lebishop13's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
aubreystrawberry's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
fayestrange's review against another edition
2.0
i think the concept was cool, didn’t love the execution or characters; i never felt like i really got who the characters were so i was just floating around picking up information about people i didn’t like
spavento's review against another edition
3.0
It was an odd reading experience. The events and voice of the first third really threw me off. I honestly wasn’t really enjoying it until Xavier’s story about the Go players on the train, then I enjoyed it more and more until Yuri showed up, at which point it kind of plateaued. I loved the letters when we finally got to dig into the mechanics of what was happening. So many cool things going on, I just felt kind of hampered by the rocky start. I remember thinking “Of course you’re all connected: you’re in a novel together.” I didn’t feel grounded in the beginning