Reviews with content warning for Grief - No One Is Talking About This

This is another one of those books that's actually very short but you can tell took a lot of work because it's written by a poet in a similar way to how poetry is written. Every single word placed and thought about in such detail. And I commend it for that. It starts of about a woman who spends her whole life on social media and how this changes her way of thinking and her perspective on the world. Then, in the second half, something tragic happens in the real world which flips her perspective back and perhaps helps her manage to take a healthier perspective on life - perhaps it's a comment on how it really would take something hugely traumatic to fix our brains.

The thing is, both halves were really unpleasant. There was hope and beauty in there too, yes, but largely very unpleasant. The first section made my brain feel broken (a sign of good writing) but in a bad way, and the second half was just desperately sad (owing to more good writing). I will say though that as I might have predicted, it sometimes did verge on the overly-pretentious. It's certainly not an accessible read, I don't think.

The other criticism I have is one that a lot of people have said about this book - the two halves do feel very separate. I don't think the second would work without the first, and there is some linking between the two, but I found that that area wasn't explored very much. And I also think that the book ended before it could have - before a conclusion of some kind could be reached, or even just a reflection on the things we've been through with the character. It felt oddly unfinished and disparate where it seemed to be trying to do the opposite.

And so despite it being well written, it didn't really come together for me, and I didn't really enjoy it overall - although I did value the insights and language in certain individual moments.

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galexy_brain's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I almost stopped reading this book after getting quite far into the first half, waiting for something to happen. It felt too on-the-nose and didn't have much more to add to the conversation around social media (although Lockwood did write everyone's thoughts out beautifully). After finding a review that promised a change of pace in the second half, I decided to press on.

What I found was a beautifully written, emotional story of a family making the best out of a terrible situation. It was inspiring seeing the family come together to support the sister and baby after a scary diagnosis. The book masterfully demonstrates what it means to love, to care. I found that the book touched on the title's theme quite a bit more briefly than expected, and quickly shifted to the main character's life being less involved with social media, but it felt natural.

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bluejayreads's review

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emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

Weird, sad, and ultimately unsatisfying. I initially really loved the bizarre, disjointed style, the wacky observations, the over-the-top and yet also completely spot-on depiction of internet culture. The text from the unnamed protagonist's mother was a turning point, but not in the way I expected. It was less "sudden tragedy causes protagonist to reevaluate her time online" and more "tragic news causes protagonist to switch from being consumed by internet to consumed by other situation." It wasn't bad, necessarily, but it was emotionally intense and less an intentional reevaluation (which is what I wanted to see) than the protagonist spending less time online due to circumstances outside her control and becoming less internet popular because of it. The first half was great, I just wanted the second half to be something else entirely.

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dale1997's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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sketchydelusion's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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