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3.13 AVERAGE
3.13 AVERAGE
dark
sad
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
Deeply unlikable main character, intentionally so, but I don’t really know what the book added up to in the end.
This book had potential, but it fell flat. The plot was slow and disjointed. Nothing much happens over the course of the book, mostly due to the main character. Tash is a bad friend, sister, stupid, and honestly extremely unlikeable. I typically enjoy a well-done unlikeable character, but Tash was not one of them. She is extremely harsh to everyone for no reason, and she is delusionally obtuse about Zach. The other characters felt very flat to me. Her mother seemed half-baked in the sense that her full character wasn’t fleshed out - I had a hard time getting a good feel for who she was. Normally, a plot point where an ex moves in would make a book better and messier, but it did neither in this case. I found this book tough to get through, as I was tired of being in Tash’s head as the book went on.
Thank you to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for the ARC.
Thank you to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for the ARC.
dark
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow, this MC was unhinged and delusional. Truly a human trainwreck.
There were moments where I didn't think I could take another moment of her sabotaging her relationships and life but ultimately, I could not look away.
This was different and weird, in a good way. The last 10% was unexpected and mostly satisfying- a pretty solid ending.
There were moments where I didn't think I could take another moment of her sabotaging her relationships and life but ultimately, I could not look away.
This was different and weird, in a good way. The last 10% was unexpected and mostly satisfying- a pretty solid ending.
dark
reflective
medium-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
I think this book had a very important message about the degradation of our news cycle and the wearing down of those who have true passion for reporting news. So much of what media is now is just simple clickbait, and I think that the parts of this book that addressed and lamented that were the most impactful for me. After reading the About the Author section and learning more about Baxter's credentials, this theme was especially salient. I'm sure there were sections of this book that were incredibly cathartic to write.
On the other side of things, I felt there were moments of this book that took away from that message. I'm all for an unlikeable narrator, but there came a point for me where Natasha had absolutely no redeeming qualities left. I felt that making the main character SO unlikeable made me less sympathetic to her plight as a reporter fighting for the sanctity of traditional, on the ground reporting. I mean, even when she was an actual reporter, she didn't seem to worry much about the sanctity of the job then...
Overall, I felt that, while the message about media was important, there were other aspects of the story that just took away from that for me. I was entertained, but I was also frustrated, and maybe that speaks to the skills of the author to create such a hard-to-love narrator without completely losing me as a reader.
Thank you to NetGalley, Holly Baxter, and Harper Perennial for granting me early access to this book in exchange for my honest review!
On the other side of things, I felt there were moments of this book that took away from that message. I'm all for an unlikeable narrator, but there came a point for me where Natasha had absolutely no redeeming qualities left. I felt that making the main character SO unlikeable made me less sympathetic to her plight as a reporter fighting for the sanctity of traditional, on the ground reporting. I mean, even when she was an actual reporter, she didn't seem to worry much about the sanctity of the job then...
Overall, I felt that, while the message about media was important, there were other aspects of the story that just took away from that for me. I was entertained, but I was also frustrated, and maybe that speaks to the skills of the author to create such a hard-to-love narrator without completely losing me as a reader.
Thank you to NetGalley, Holly Baxter, and Harper Perennial for granting me early access to this book in exchange for my honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Grief
Minor: Pregnancy, Abandonment
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks to NetGalley, Holly Baxter, and Harper Perennial for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This was a letdown for me. Having received this ARC with a fair bit of anticipation, I found the story’s promise quickly deflated as I delved into the narrative. The book tracks the downward spiral of Natasha Bailey, a journalist whose career implodes following a significant ethical lapse. This mistake not only costs her a coveted reporting position in London but also earns her a demotion where she’s reduced to churning out mindless clickbait - not to mention her husband leaving her. Her personal life mirrors this downward spiral, wasting her savings on a shitty apartment in Queens and isolating herself further from her friends and family.
The introduction of Zach, Natasha's fuckboy ex boyfriend who moves into her apartment, fails to inject much-needed complexity into the story. Natasha's relentless negativity and her failure to navigate her relationships or career aspirations make her an impossible character to root for.
Natasha's major misstep, which serves as the crux of the plot, feels both overblown and frustratingly avoidable, casting a shadow over the entire book. Her interactions with others are completely unlikable and totally lack warmth and authenticity.
The book's ability to keep me engaged was not a testament to its quality but rather to a morbid curiosity about how the narrative would resolve its many conflicts. However, any moments that might have offered depth or insight were completely brushed over. Natasha is horrible to everyone, learning nothing and changing nothing, always the victim.
Baxter's attempt to craft a narrative around redemption and growth falls short, hampered by a lead character whose path to self-discovery is both unconvincing and unfulfilling. The story, aiming to be compelling, instead serves as an example of missed opportunities, rendering it a difficult and ultimately unsatisfying read.
This was a letdown for me. Having received this ARC with a fair bit of anticipation, I found the story’s promise quickly deflated as I delved into the narrative. The book tracks the downward spiral of Natasha Bailey, a journalist whose career implodes following a significant ethical lapse. This mistake not only costs her a coveted reporting position in London but also earns her a demotion where she’s reduced to churning out mindless clickbait - not to mention her husband leaving her. Her personal life mirrors this downward spiral, wasting her savings on a shitty apartment in Queens and isolating herself further from her friends and family.
The introduction of Zach, Natasha's fuckboy ex boyfriend who moves into her apartment, fails to inject much-needed complexity into the story. Natasha's relentless negativity and her failure to navigate her relationships or career aspirations make her an impossible character to root for.
Natasha's major misstep, which serves as the crux of the plot, feels both overblown and frustratingly avoidable, casting a shadow over the entire book. Her interactions with others are completely unlikable and totally lack warmth and authenticity.
The book's ability to keep me engaged was not a testament to its quality but rather to a morbid curiosity about how the narrative would resolve its many conflicts. However, any moments that might have offered depth or insight were completely brushed over. Natasha is horrible to everyone, learning nothing and changing nothing, always the victim.
Baxter's attempt to craft a narrative around redemption and growth falls short, hampered by a lead character whose path to self-discovery is both unconvincing and unfulfilling. The story, aiming to be compelling, instead serves as an example of missed opportunities, rendering it a difficult and ultimately unsatisfying read.