Reviews

What Not by Rose Macaulay

dorothygrace's review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

lemonlime_78's review

slow-paced

1.0

niallharrison's review

challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

rosh's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Abandonment

directorpurry's review against another edition

2.0

While reading this book, I felt almost as if I were reading something like, say, "The Great Gatsby" alone for the first time without a high school English teacher to hold my hand. This was not a bad book and it was actually quite easy and quick to read, but I KNEW I was missing context and that made it very frustrating. I could see how this piece influenced 1984 pretty well, but overall I did enjoy that book much more. (Maybe because I read it in a HS English class, where I had the context explained to me through packets haha.)
I think I would have liked the premise much more if I understood the context. But as it is, in the least mean-spirited way possible, this felt a bit like a slightly underdone YA dystopian romance novel plot.
I respect the literary influence of this book, but I wish I had liked it more.

phoe_beeb07's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective

admyers's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective

readswithcocktails's review against another edition

3.0

This book puts me in mind of all the Brecht I've ever seen staged in that I appreciate it and I think it's well done and it made me think and I think I liked it because of that, but I didn't necessarily enjoy it. And, as Claire Glietman told me so many times, "Alas, that's the way with Brecht", and I think it's the way with this book as well.

k0ks3nw4i's review against another edition

3.0

I can see why this is enjoying a bit of a modern resurgence, given its obvious influence on Brave New World (a book I adore), and its prescient caution against eugenics decades before the Holocaust. It is no doubt an important piece of literature, and one that was very wittily written but unfortunately, it failed to add up to a very satisfying or enjoyable story for me. I think it functions on a mostly intellectual level, but it seems incapable—at least for me—at inciting any emotions or passions the way Brave New World, 1984 and The Handmaid's Tale did, which probably contributed to their enduring popularity, while What Not largely disappeared from public consciousness.