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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
Hogarth absolutely knocked it out of the park for me with Motherthing, so I was excited to read Normal Women and had the bar set high. Unfortunately, I found the the final third of this book disappointing and flat. The majority of this novel was quite engaging, written with the same dark, smarmy, cutting humor found in her previous work. I'd like to think on the ending more and process it, as I suspect there is more going on here that I've missed, but my immediate reaction was "really?" followed by a defeated sigh (maybe that was the intended reaction?). Normal Women also has a smart and biting critical angle throughout which I enjoyed.
There is a lot going on in this book, but simply described readers follow Dani, our complicated protagonist and new stay-at-home mother, and she navigates her life freshly transplanted back in her hometown after her husband lands a promotion based there. Dani often voices harsh opinions about her fellow mothers/frenemies while also embodying exactly those traits or perspectives. She is a college-educated (philosophy major LOL me too) upper middle class woman who feels as if she has no usable skills and has found herself financially beholden to her husband, referring to herself as his "silly little dependent" and becomes panicked when she realized one day he could unexpectedly die and leave her to fend for her daughter and herself alone.
Dani is convinced she is smarter, more special, more progressive than her stay-at-home mom friends and destined for a greater purpose in life than tipsy brunches and momfluencer social media, but feels she is without the adequate skills needed for monetary success in the "real world". She weirdly becomes intrigued and then obsessed with the idea of becoming a sex worker at a local yoga studio/ brothel (the yoga bits in here are hilarious) and romanticizing the idea, fantasizing about working there and befriending the brothel owner and spiritual leader of sorts, Renata. Renata and Dani have some interesting conversations about toxic masculinity, sex work as healing work, saving men from their culturally programmed emotionless, but it all feels a bit cult-like.
In the end, I was disappointed by where the story landed, though I think Hogarth overall has made a thought-provoking and sharply insightful work here.
There is a lot going on in this book, but simply described readers follow Dani, our complicated protagonist and new stay-at-home mother, and she navigates her life freshly transplanted back in her hometown after her husband lands a promotion based there. Dani often voices harsh opinions about her fellow mothers/frenemies while also embodying exactly those traits or perspectives. She is a college-educated (philosophy major LOL me too) upper middle class woman who feels as if she has no usable skills and has found herself financially beholden to her husband, referring to herself as his "silly little dependent" and becomes panicked when she realized one day he could unexpectedly die and leave her to fend for her daughter and herself alone.
Dani is convinced she is smarter, more special, more progressive than her stay-at-home mom friends and destined for a greater purpose in life than tipsy brunches and momfluencer social media, but feels she is without the adequate skills needed for monetary success in the "real world". She weirdly becomes intrigued and then obsessed with the idea of becoming a sex worker at a local yoga studio/ brothel (the yoga bits in here are hilarious) and romanticizing the idea, fantasizing about working there and befriending the brothel owner and spiritual leader of sorts, Renata. Renata and Dani have some interesting conversations about toxic masculinity, sex work as healing work, saving men from their culturally programmed emotionless, but it all feels a bit cult-like.
In the end, I was disappointed by where the story landed, though I think Hogarth overall has made a thought-provoking and sharply insightful work here.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sophomore novel from Hogarth. Very clever turn or phrase and exceptional writing. The plot just did not carry for me. Never felt like I cared what was happening to the characters to keep moving ahead.
I truly can't decide how I feel about this book. It's different and the ending was unexpected. But it took forever to get to the climax.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book took me ages to finish because it was so slow at times that I would put it down and not pick it up for months. I like the writing style mostly but the plot felt like it was taking forever to get to and then suddenly it was over. It was very anticlimactic.
challenging
lighthearted
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
Yeaaaah, I really don't know. I feel like this story hasn't fully explored the potential of its premise. The climax was SOOoo anticlimactic. The plot was weak in general, and the character arc was non-existent. I did enjoy the social commentary though. It is just quite dissapointing after the perfection of the Night Thing.
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Interesting buildup to a lukewarm ending. I crave conspiracy. I crave the vibes of Stepford wives/don’t worry darling.
Even so I am convinced the other reviewers are haters— objectively, this story means something!
Even so I am convinced the other reviewers are haters— objectively, this story means something!
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes