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demimancy's review against another edition
4.0
Phew, what a wild, fraught, emotional experience. What a wonderful short story collection, full of compelling characters and a delightful narrative twist in the middle. Can’t wait to talk about this one.
mslaura's review against another edition
4.0
Ratings:
Writing 5
Story line 4
Characters 4
Emotional impact 4
Overall rating 4.25
Writing 5
Story line 4
Characters 4
Emotional impact 4
Overall rating 4.25
britakate's review against another edition
I didn't realize these stories were linked until the third or fourth one - a pleasant surprise. Judging by the Goodreads opinions of her last two novels - both of which I thoroughly enjoyed - Millet is a divisive figure. Some reviewers find her "too clever," which seems weirdly offensive to me. This collection is front-loaded with some mildly obscene material that sensitive readers may find off-putting, but I would urge them to push through, as the stories become increasingly subtle. My two favorite pieces come from the perspective of an extremely self-aware older woman, whose bittersweet insights on aging seem spot-on to me. ("She'd held it as an article of faith that distance gave you insight. But distance gave you distance.")
mikaiya's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me access to this for an unbiased review. I've read Millet's Sweet Lamb of Heaven and remember being impressed with how eerie and substantial her writing is, and how no matter the topic she can turn an everyday encounter into something mysterious and off-kilter. I was curious how this story collection would work, and should have expected an equally strange and fascinating world. I was not expecting the stories to be so interconnected, and it took me a few to realize all the characters were interconnected, but then I was fully along for the ride with her at-times too-real local residents. I was particularly impressed by how different the characters were (the step-dad, the wounded girl(s?)) and yet how much they all shared a similar sense of overwhelmed inability to make their world be what they wanted it to be. Without spoiling the ending, I wondered at the end if we aren't all wandering the neighborhood, unaware of the time as it passes. The more I think on this book, the more it horrifies and delights me. Definitely a worthy read!
derelictvessel's review against another edition
5.0
Though this book is sold as a collection of stories that is not what I would call it. It is a collection of people, each having a few chapters in the lime light, their stories wrapped around each other so tightly that they blend together.
You watch characters grow, you are put in the mind of a depraved man, you see how all stories influence each other.
My favorite chapters are
The Fall of Berlin
Fight No More
Oh Child of Earth
My favorite character is Aleska
You watch characters grow, you are put in the mind of a depraved man, you see how all stories influence each other.
My favorite chapters are
The Fall of Berlin
Fight No More
Oh Child of Earth
My favorite character is Aleska
8little_paws's review against another edition
5.0
Not so much a short story collection but a novel with a different character narrating each chapter. Lydia Millet is a master of controlling the reader's emotions throughout, and you'll find empathy in places you'd never expect.
anahita's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
zachkuhn's review
5.0
I'd call it a novel and set aside a spot on your top 10 of 2018. Millet is always magnificent but this is her most affecting and effective novel in years.
catdad77a45's review
3.0
3.5, rounded down.
Had never read (or indeed, even heard of, despite her many accolades) Millet before tackling this, and now can't quite recall even WHY I added this to my TBR pile, especially as this is essentially a bunch of linked short stories, a format of which I am not especially fond. But the structure is really quite intriguing and if everything doesn't QUITE coalesce (it kind of seems like a 'legit' novel in which some chapters are missing and the chronology is a bit askew), Millet's prose is perfunctory and muscular (oddly, I had to keep reminding myself this was written by a female; it has a latent masculinity, especially in the sex scenes).
There are three main plotlines - one following real estate agent Nina, and her various quirky clients (including a vampire and a demented woman who sees dwarves in her house), one of whom she falls for, only to be devastated (spoiler alert!) by his untimely demise. The second follows another one of those clients, Aleska, an elderly widow who sells her house (via Nina), and moves in with her negligent son, Paul and his new much younger expectant wife, Lora. The final strand follows Lexie, the au pair they hire when the baby comes, who also takes care of Aleska, and has a shady past that includes sexual abuse by her stepfather. The three stories weave in and out amongst each other, and even the other stories that don't seem to initially connect, eventually do.
My main problem is that I couldn't seem to get any momentum going - a book of this length shouldn't have taken me more than two days ... and this took me twice that to get through. I'd still like to give other of Millet's works a try, especially those that ARE novels.
Had never read (or indeed, even heard of, despite her many accolades) Millet before tackling this, and now can't quite recall even WHY I added this to my TBR pile, especially as this is essentially a bunch of linked short stories, a format of which I am not especially fond. But the structure is really quite intriguing and if everything doesn't QUITE coalesce (it kind of seems like a 'legit' novel in which some chapters are missing and the chronology is a bit askew), Millet's prose is perfunctory and muscular (oddly, I had to keep reminding myself this was written by a female; it has a latent masculinity, especially in the sex scenes).
There are three main plotlines - one following real estate agent Nina, and her various quirky clients (including a vampire and a demented woman who sees dwarves in her house), one of whom she falls for, only to be devastated (spoiler alert!) by his untimely demise. The second follows another one of those clients, Aleska, an elderly widow who sells her house (via Nina), and moves in with her negligent son, Paul and his new much younger expectant wife, Lora. The final strand follows Lexie, the au pair they hire when the baby comes, who also takes care of Aleska, and has a shady past that includes sexual abuse by her stepfather. The three stories weave in and out amongst each other, and even the other stories that don't seem to initially connect, eventually do.
My main problem is that I couldn't seem to get any momentum going - a book of this length shouldn't have taken me more than two days ... and this took me twice that to get through. I'd still like to give other of Millet's works a try, especially those that ARE novels.
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