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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator's pacing was perfect. The writing is dark and claustrophobic in a way that builds the tension of the story. There are occasional turns of phrase that were captivating and inventive, and they work to convey the interior life of the main character effectively.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
Loveable characters:
No
It's a pretty depressing story (his wife killed in a car crash while he was driving; Oghi wakes up disabled in hospital and his mother-in-law takes up his care/abuse). He was having an affair; no one comes for him; he realizes a bunch of stuff (too late).
I was reminded, in the circumstances, of Agaat (by Marlene van Niekerk), of caregiver and invalid, of not being able to speak (clearly a horrifying condition for a writer to contemplate), of how abuse seeps into caregiving when there's historical resentment...also how we make up stories of what people mean when they say something (are they being sarcastic or not), that those stories can be wrong (and in both readings, I wanted them to be wrong).
I was reminded, in the circumstances, of Agaat (by Marlene van Niekerk), of caregiver and invalid, of not being able to speak (clearly a horrifying condition for a writer to contemplate), of how abuse seeps into caregiving when there's historical resentment...also how we make up stories of what people mean when they say something (are they being sarcastic or not), that those stories can be wrong (and in both readings, I wanted them to be wrong).
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Car accident
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Suicide
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abandonment
Minor: Infidelity
bon thriller psychologique qui nous rappelle misery. on est plongé dans le récit d’un homme paralysé à la suite d’un accident de voiture. tout se passe de sa perspective, de son lit médicalisé d’abord à l’hôpital puis chez lui. sa belle-mère « s’occupe » de lui et nous sommes confrontés à la négligence et maltraitance de cette dernière envers son gendre. difficile de comprendre pourquoi, une zone d’ombre entoure ce livre mais c’est plutôt intéressant puisque ça laisse libre à une interprétation de notre part.
This story starts out dark (man awakes from a car-accident-induced coma to find he can only blink his eyes) and gets darker. A quick read. It is so much more than the psycho thriller that others label it as. It has a lot to say about loneliness and karma.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Okay so first of all, is this book ableist because the main character is not a good person and we are supposed to recognize that and be like, "damn dude, relax"? Or is this book ableist to be ableist? I cannot figure out which one it is, and my rating is for the former rather than the latter. I'm just assuming the best of intentions here.
Ableism aside, I enjoyed this in a weird way. It is slow, it is super low-key in its thriller/horror elements (it reads more like literary fiction for almost the entire thing), and it meanders more than you'd expect for such a short book. But I still liked it. I was intrigued enough to keep going and kept wondering wtf was going on. By the time things were revealed, I had already figured it out, but it was still a mostly enjoyable reading experience.
Ableism aside, I enjoyed this in a weird way. It is slow, it is super low-key in its thriller/horror elements (it reads more like literary fiction for almost the entire thing), and it meanders more than you'd expect for such a short book. But I still liked it. I was intrigued enough to keep going and kept wondering wtf was going on. By the time things were revealed, I had already figured it out, but it was still a mostly enjoyable reading experience.