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lenin_lover_69's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
2.0
I found this just a really strange novel! I finished it but only because the ending arrived quite quickly once there was character dialogue that would take up several pages.
Echoing other reviewers, this book is like a stream of a consciousness from a protagonist who is neurodiverse - this isn't mentioned in the book but I think that can be fairly gleaned from reading an interview with the author whose public profile is very much oriented around her experience as an autistic woman. I think as a result the book maybe reads a bit like autofiction or at least you find yourself seeing the character as the author whether you want to or not.
It feels really indulgent and kind of exciting at times to have a book that is primarily the characters internal dialogue - in this context all the kind of strange and problematic thoughts she has throughout make sense since that is consistent with all our internal dialogues. But idk lots of other reviewers have put it better than me but the character is really misogynistic! Big I'm-not-like-other-girls energy, and really fixated on gender norms. There are also strange musings on being queer (wishes she was attracted to women romantically as it would be easier), First Nations people (feels strange around 'them' due to colonisation?), bodies (assumes someone is fat and depressed because of some items on a fridge shelf?? Lol) and then of course the big reveal which is that she lives in a full block sized mansion in toorak by herself as her parents died when she was 17 and her family are very rich due to being property developers since the 1800s. As a result, she does not work!
I think it's as a result of these things that nothing about the character really rang true since all her views on everything either seemed completely conservative and conventional except when she was saying 'she read somewhere" and then she would recount something progressive about abusive relationships, or Indigenous land dispossession which sorry but if her family were acquiring massive amounts of property in the 19th century they would have been absolutely part of that!!
Shame about it as the concept could have been really interesting if it was executed better!!
Echoing other reviewers, this book is like a stream of a consciousness from a protagonist who is neurodiverse - this isn't mentioned in the book but I think that can be fairly gleaned from reading an interview with the author whose public profile is very much oriented around her experience as an autistic woman. I think as a result the book maybe reads a bit like autofiction or at least you find yourself seeing the character as the author whether you want to or not.
It feels really indulgent and kind of exciting at times to have a book that is primarily the characters internal dialogue - in this context all the kind of strange and problematic thoughts she has throughout make sense since that is consistent with all our internal dialogues. But idk lots of other reviewers have put it better than me but the character is really misogynistic! Big I'm-not-like-other-girls energy, and really fixated on gender norms. There are also strange musings on being queer (wishes she was attracted to women romantically as it would be easier), First Nations people (feels strange around 'them' due to colonisation?), bodies (assumes someone is fat and depressed because of some items on a fridge shelf?? Lol) and then of course the big reveal which is that
I think it's as a result of these things that nothing about the character really rang true since all her views on everything either seemed completely conservative and conventional except when she was saying 'she read somewhere" and then she would recount something progressive about abusive relationships, or Indigenous land dispossession which
Shame about it as the concept could have been really interesting if it was executed better!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Racism and Sexual violence
horizonous's review against another edition
funny
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Grief, and Sexual violence
Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Rape
◦ Death = Mortality salience
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