Reviews

Jonathan Abernathy is a 25-year-old, who has accumulated quite a bit of debt from his studies and an inherited creditcard debt from his parents. He navigates life precariously, but when he gets the chance to become a dream auditor. Sounds ideal, right?

Selected as the April pick for the Bored to Death Book Club, I was so excited that we finally read a book I voted on to read. I've seen this go around Bookstagram, so expectations were high. The subject of dreams, capitalism-critique and a depressed 20-something MC sounded exactly up my street.

After I finished the book, I was happy I had a bookclub to look forward to, because I had a lot of thoughts floating around. It definitely made for an interesting discussion - some loved it, some hated it, and we all had a lot of questions.

Ultimately, the book didn't only not live up to the hype for me, I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. My main objections are the underdeveloped characters, the fact that the book tried to go in too many different directions (resulting in too little of anything), the loose ends in too many storylines and the tone of voice of the writing. I think I would have enjoyed this as a movie more than I did as a book.

kibernick's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Kinda like if Douglas Adams wrote a book tie-in for a movie directed by Terry Gilliam based off the show Severance. Really deep emotional and contemporary topics were delivered by narrator that was too scatterbrained, quirky and avoidant for me. Still, a pretty decent book.

alienrights's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

alyssastag's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was cool. I feel like I haven’t read an actually devastating tragedy like this in a minute. At first I was really annoyed at his name being repeated so much but I was able to ignore it after a while. Maybe supposed to be a reminder that he is a person despite this soul-consuming work he’s committed to? Also hated how shitty of a person he is, but now that I’m done I’m questioning how much he actually remembered/knew about his life vs. how much was “packaged” away after starting his job. I’m left wondering what exactly was real, what were dreams, or if Jonathan’s world is an indistinguishable mix of dreams and reality. Like is the office building an actual setting or does he just go there in his dreams? Also what happened to his mom? Was she one of the first to fall victim to this? This was definitely an entertaining (terrifying) critique of late stage capitalism and I enjoyed reading it.

lgiery's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Disorienting. Dedicated to "the forgotten who have been worked to death," the book serves as a dark critique of late-stage capitalism, American work-culture, and perhaps American society and values in general. The book explores many uncomfortable truths about a nation that often puts value in the wrong place.

Content Warnings

roguemuffin's review against another edition

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medium-paced

4.75

I almost quit this book very early on bc of the repetition of the main character's name and I'm sooooo glad I didn't! I believe it's very intentional and it does subside after the first few chapters. This story needed to be told, because not enough is being said about the very real state of late stage capitalism and those who struggle within it. I legit cried at the end. Bittersweet and beautfiful. I will be buying a copy for my permanent collection and loaning it out frequently.

Content Warnings

emloueez's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I loved the concept, I'm not sure why I didn't fully connect with this. Some lovely and sad and funny moments, but I felt like the plot was a little hard to follow sometimes. I also felt like some of the writing was a little didactic.

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