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nicolinebl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was a confusing but intriguing read. Honestly, just calling it that is underselling it; it was definitely an experience.
I started reading this book two days ago and barely did anything else besides that because I just needed to know how it ended.
It starts of slow, then it gets really intense for a while but then it takes a turn that I honestly didn't appreciate nor understand and then it changes directions near the end again, leaving me quite puzzled.
None of the characters in this book seem like nice people, Nora probably being the nicest one and the main character Scott honestly being one of the most annoying characters. There are a lot of characters to keep track of by the way, I started writing them down lol!
There are also a lot of trigger warnings for this book, the one that made me the most upset being transphobic undertones. Not sure if that's the writers prejudice coming through or her showing that her character is transphobic, but I got really pissed at that part.
There were some parts where the writer tried to make things lighter by jokes or "funny" thoughts but in my opinion, they didn't really work. Also some parts - besides supernatural plotlines or course - were a bit unbelievable. Like how Scott was apparently so rich even though he'd been fired from his job and didn't seem to have a great job at the moment. And since he's investigating for like +-7 months and not actually working or something he's only spending money (and spending it like crazy). Nobody has that many spare change right?
Also, an in my opinion unnecessary loveplot near the ending - if you've read the book you know the part.
Besides that I am still fascinated by this book. I love the mix of mediums: articles, websitepages, documents, photo's etc. and even bonus content on the writers website (definitely check it out, especially the last one!)
I chose to read this book in October because of Halloween and must admit I was kind of let down, it wasn't that scary andI hated that they had a whole supernatural plot, then decided to explain it all away and then afterwards sort of went back to the supernatural route.
I will end my review by saying that I do think this story could have been told in less than 600 pages and dragged a little at some parts but I most certainly do no regret reading this story; because at its main core, it did have some intriguing themes and phenomenal aesthetics. And gosh darn, I'm kind of sad that I'm not able to see the movies Cordova has made, him being fictional and all.
PS: Think this would be awesome in film format so that I could show my brother and friend who will never read a 600-pages book!
I started reading this book two days ago and barely did anything else besides that because I just needed to know how it ended.
It starts of slow, then it gets really intense for a while but then it takes a turn that I honestly didn't appreciate nor understand and then it changes directions near the end again, leaving me quite puzzled.
None of the characters in this book seem like nice people, Nora probably being the nicest one and the main character Scott honestly being one of the most annoying characters. There are a lot of characters to keep track of by the way, I started writing them down lol!
There are also a lot of trigger warnings for this book, the one that made me the most upset being transphobic undertones. Not sure if that's the writers prejudice coming through or her showing that her character is transphobic, but I got really pissed at that part.
There were some parts where the writer tried to make things lighter by jokes or "funny" thoughts but in my opinion, they didn't really work. Also some parts - besides supernatural plotlines or course - were a bit unbelievable. Like how Scott was apparently so rich even though he'd been fired from his job and didn't seem to have a great job at the moment. And since he's investigating for like +-7 months and not actually working or something he's only spending money (and spending it like crazy). Nobody has that many spare change right?
Also, an in my opinion unnecessary loveplot near the ending - if you've read the book you know the part.
Besides that I am still fascinated by this book. I love the mix of mediums: articles, websitepages, documents, photo's etc. and even bonus content on the writers website (definitely check it out, especially the last one!)
I chose to read this book in October because of Halloween and must admit I was kind of let down, it wasn't that scary and
I will end my review by saying that I do think this story could have been told in less than 600 pages and dragged a little at some parts but I most certainly do no regret reading this story; because at its main core, it did have some intriguing themes and phenomenal aesthetics. And gosh darn, I'm kind of sad that I'm not able to see the movies Cordova has made, him being fictional and all.
PS: Think this would be awesome in film format so that I could show my brother and friend who will never read a 600-pages book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Trafficking, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Drug use, Slavery, Vomit, and Alcohol
wylovat's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Transphobia
kaitlyn15's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Okay like the book was good (that ending was way too dragged out though) but throwing in the t-slur is just not it. This book was written in 2013 (I think?), that language was absolutely not acceptable then (or now).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness and Transphobia
Moderate: Racism
metamorphoses's review against another edition
1.0
WHERE DO I BEGIN
First be warned : there's a shit ton of transphobia, ableism, fatphobia, racism and sexism in this book.
Second, I'm giving this 1 star out of pure spite. 600 fucking pages for THAT? That's it?? That's all?? I endured 600 pages of all the hate I listed above and long description of people walking or getting into cars or eating FOR THAT??
I hate everything and especially this fucking stupid sexist MC.
I'm DONE.
First be warned : there's a shit ton of transphobia, ableism, fatphobia, racism and sexism in this book.
Second, I'm giving this 1 star out of pure spite. 600 fucking pages for THAT? That's it?? That's all?? I endured 600 pages of all the hate I listed above and long description of people walking or getting into cars or eating FOR THAT??
I hate everything and especially this fucking stupid sexist MC.
I'm DONE.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Fatphobia, Racism, Sexism, and Transphobia
jbellomy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
1.0
Pretentious film student fanfiction wrapped in despicable ideology. There's nothing true – emotionally or philosophically – about it. I could write a book about how much I disliked this book. I really white-knuckled my way through the last half, and it was a goddamn audiobook.
I'm frankly shocked that Pessl hasn't been ~cancelled~ by the Twitter mob. The horrifying lens through which this author clearly views the world should not be given a platform. Here are some examples (though not specific, because no one's going to read this review and so I'm not going to get a physical copy and spend time scouring this trashfire):
- every single description of a character of Asian descent is slathered in racism. This probably happens around ten times, my absolute favorite (read: least favorite, burn it in hellfire) instance being when Scott is shocked that an Asian person speaks with an American accent – or as he says, "without an accent" lol Scott. The audiobook is even worse, as the narrator makes the very fun choice to read Cleo (who, by the way, is the Only Good Character in this never-ending tome) with a stereotypical accent, despite the fact that her accent is never mentioned. Other POC do not fare better. For example, there are two Latinas present in this book. One is a cowering superstitious maid who can't speak English. The other is a human trafficker eternally devoted to serving a white guy. I'm 90% sure this book uses the word "exotic" to describe WOC. (Don't fact check me on that. The fact that it's plausible is horror enough honestly.)
- there are multiple instances of needless transphobia. Hopper & Scott's reactions to the women working in the Secret Man Club is the worst of it. We also get very enjoyable and completely okay comments about the person who gave Nora all her clothes. Scott's never met this person, but he's gonna judge them, because they have a BOY NAME and collect WOMEN'S CLOTHES so they must be silly and weird!! Cool, Scott! You're so fucking cool!
- What really sealed the deal for me was when the only character to show same-sex attraction in, again, an absolute UNIT of a book, is shown to be a pedophilic predator. Ah, yes, Pessl! What a good and informed take on the queer community you have!
- Oh and there's plenty of sweet sweet bodyshaming in here too, because of course there is.
Here's a link to a review that has some details about this aspect of the book. Aaaand here's my absolute favorite review (except why the two stars, my dude? Lean into the anger).
Dangerous and untrue characterizations like this are inarguably bad. It's not a cute homage to hardboiled noir detectives. It's not a look into a morally grey protagonist. It's not interesting or edgy. It's lazy and it's shameful. These descriptions are presented as fact, and Scott's racist, transphobic, sexist perspective is never criticized at all. Why insert these elements? Populating a fictional world with disgusting stereotypes is not acceptable now, and it was not acceptable in 2013. I can't even say this was a "product of its time" because it was published SIX YEARS AGO. Bro, I'm usually one of the people that's like "eh we can like problematic stuff, very few people deserve to be fully cancelled" but the shit in this book is harmful in that it perpetuates pre-existing prejudices and it validates people who already carry those ideas.
If that were the only aspect of the book that was terrible, it'd be enough for me to be wary. I wouldn't completely dismiss it per se. But this book's core characters also leave a hell of a lot to be desired. Nora was particularly flat, presented as a doting, constantly gasping (or "amazed" or "spellbound" or "captivated") waif who's in love with McGrath by the end despite him treating her like dogshit. Scott's initial description of her is spot on. She does not become anything more than what he assumed her to be. Her moving out is prompted by Scott's rejection of her literal declaration of love. That's not character development, friendo. (How in the fuck was this written by a woman??? The internalized misogyny is STRONG with this one!)
I could go on (for a very long time). Like I haven't even mentioned the multitude of cavernous plotholes in this book that clearly prides itself in meticulous plotting (HOW DOES "DISGRACED JOURNALIST SCOTT MCGRATH" HAVE UNLIMITED FUNDS??!). Or the fanboy-level ~auteurs-can-save-the-world~ hero worship on display (we get it, you like Hitchcock). Or the completely illogical behavior of almost every random side character (lol! the pseudo-priest admitting to pedophilia! wtf!). Or the excruciating self-importance of the prose and themes (although to classify whatever this book was going for as "themes" is giving it too much credit). But I've already spent far too much time with this word vomit, and I need to scrub it from my psyche as soon as possible.
Needless to say, I'm not going to read Special Topics, and my lukewarm opinion of [b:Neverworld Wake|36545927|Neverworld Wake|Marisha Pessl|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1517426178l/36545927._SY75_.jpg|56878900] has been tainted by this utter garbage.
I'm frankly shocked that Pessl hasn't been ~cancelled~ by the Twitter mob. The horrifying lens through which this author clearly views the world should not be given a platform. Here are some examples (though not specific, because no one's going to read this review and so I'm not going to get a physical copy and spend time scouring this trashfire):
- every single description of a character of Asian descent is slathered in racism. This probably happens around ten times, my absolute favorite (read: least favorite, burn it in hellfire) instance being when Scott is shocked that an Asian person speaks with an American accent – or as he says, "without an accent" lol Scott. The audiobook is even worse, as the narrator makes the very fun choice to read Cleo (who, by the way, is the Only Good Character in this never-ending tome) with a stereotypical accent, despite the fact that her accent is never mentioned. Other POC do not fare better. For example, there are two Latinas present in this book. One is a cowering superstitious maid who can't speak English. The other is a human trafficker eternally devoted to serving a white guy. I'm 90% sure this book uses the word "exotic" to describe WOC. (Don't fact check me on that. The fact that it's plausible is horror enough honestly.)
- there are multiple instances of needless transphobia. Hopper & Scott's reactions to the women working in the Secret Man Club is the worst of it. We also get very enjoyable and completely okay comments about the person who gave Nora all her clothes. Scott's never met this person, but he's gonna judge them, because they have a BOY NAME and collect WOMEN'S CLOTHES so they must be silly and weird!! Cool, Scott! You're so fucking cool!
- What really sealed the deal for me was when the only character to show same-sex attraction in, again, an absolute UNIT of a book, is shown to be a pedophilic predator. Ah, yes, Pessl! What a good and informed take on the queer community you have!
- Oh and there's plenty of sweet sweet bodyshaming in here too, because of course there is.
Here's a link to a review that has some details about this aspect of the book. Aaaand here's my absolute favorite review (except why the two stars, my dude? Lean into the anger).
Dangerous and untrue characterizations like this are inarguably bad. It's not a cute homage to hardboiled noir detectives. It's not a look into a morally grey protagonist. It's not interesting or edgy. It's lazy and it's shameful. These descriptions are presented as fact, and Scott's racist, transphobic, sexist perspective is never criticized at all. Why insert these elements? Populating a fictional world with disgusting stereotypes is not acceptable now, and it was not acceptable in 2013. I can't even say this was a "product of its time" because it was published SIX YEARS AGO. Bro, I'm usually one of the people that's like "eh we can like problematic stuff, very few people deserve to be fully cancelled" but the shit in this book is harmful in that it perpetuates pre-existing prejudices and it validates people who already carry those ideas.
If that were the only aspect of the book that was terrible, it'd be enough for me to be wary. I wouldn't completely dismiss it per se. But this book's core characters also leave a hell of a lot to be desired. Nora was particularly flat, presented as a doting, constantly gasping (or "amazed" or "spellbound" or "captivated") waif who's in love with McGrath by the end despite him treating her like dogshit. Scott's initial description of her is spot on. She does not become anything more than what he assumed her to be. Her moving out is prompted by Scott's rejection of her literal declaration of love. That's not character development, friendo. (How in the fuck was this written by a woman??? The internalized misogyny is STRONG with this one!)
I could go on (for a very long time). Like I haven't even mentioned the multitude of cavernous plotholes in this book that clearly prides itself in meticulous plotting (HOW DOES "DISGRACED JOURNALIST SCOTT MCGRATH" HAVE UNLIMITED FUNDS??!). Or the fanboy-level ~auteurs-can-save-the-world~ hero worship on display (we get it, you like Hitchcock). Or the completely illogical behavior of almost every random side character (lol! the pseudo-priest admitting to pedophilia! wtf!). Or the excruciating self-importance of the prose and themes (although to classify whatever this book was going for as "themes" is giving it too much credit). But I've already spent far too much time with this word vomit, and I need to scrub it from my psyche as soon as possible.
Needless to say, I'm not going to read Special Topics, and my lukewarm opinion of [b:Neverworld Wake|36545927|Neverworld Wake|Marisha Pessl|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1517426178l/36545927._SY75_.jpg|56878900] has been tainted by this utter garbage.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, and Violence
whatevertheysay's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Cancer, Racism, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Grief
Minor: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Transphobia
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