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dumbcumpster's review against another edition
- 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
it was almost ergodic in how the author uses black holes and black pages and "e.g.:" and definitions throughout to mirror the content of the book. the black hole metaphor was a little heavy-handed for my taste, but the pomegranate metaphor really struck me. it's very heavy on internal monologue, childhood memories, and the narrator's internal thoughts feelings etc.
I've seen multiple reviews mention how Cassie, the main character, sucks or is a bad person or whatever, which I think is strange. I think the whole point is to draw attention to how capitalism ruins people's lives and turns them into something they never wanted to be, out of sheer economic necessity. Cassie is vain, competitive, cowardly, irresponsible, pathetic, an addict, lacks self control, the whole shebang, but so are we all. Cassie being directly impacted by being mistreated at her job, abused by her mother, half-heartedly committed to by her kind-of boyfriend, extorted by her landlord, put at risk by the virus, etc, all makes her want to shrivel up and hide and die. I think that's all of us. Cassie is all of us. that's what makes her so uncomfortable to understand and to see her inner machinations laid bare.
I think you'll either get this book or you won't, and you'll know pretty quickly which camp you fall into. if you have any experience with depression or poverty, you'll probably get it.
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
madelinemartin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sarahrosebooknook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
theliterarylair's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness and Abortion
Moderate: Addiction, Misogyny, and Suicide
wild_rose_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Suicide, and Abortion
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Classism
Minor: Infertility and Sexual content
carojust's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Cassie is a marketing writer at Voyager, a user data startup promising ROI for its customers. She is far from home, not happy in San Francisco, barely affording rent and needing to buy outlet groceries despite being "senior" in a big tech job. Every day is a new nightmare, as she works endless hours and performs, to be told she's not performing. She relies on drugs, and a half-relationship with a chef, who admits he and his girlfriend are trying an open relationship. Throughout her life, she is followed by a black hole that grows and shrinks. She becomes infatuated with black hole research.
Sarah Rose Etter is a talented writer, and doesn't hold back in her relentless descriptions of late-stage capitalism, have and have-nots, sexism, depression, the helplessness and bitterness of an entire generation trying to survive pandemics and a housing crisis.
I had a hard time sorting through the many metaphors being thrown at us -- fruit and seeds, black holes and space, fire and filth, bloody meat, singularity. On top of this, dictionary definitions marked each chapter, which felt oddly campy and a bit of a disservice to the quality of the writing. All of this made for a distracting read, when I really just wanted to sit in the heart of the rage and recollections of our disintegrating narrator.
This is also a cast of horrible people that you'll need to be fine with hating. Even with Cassie, who endures verbal abuse at home and at work, you'll likely become frustrated, and belabored with the self pity displayed on each page.
You should still give this a try if you're okay mentally with a lot of depressing and triggering content, have survived the woman-in-tech experience (weak laugh), and like trippy, unstable narrator reads.
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Pandemic/Epidemic
kelsiecrough's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Here are the things that I liked:
- the use of a unique form, with the definitions and examples being flashbacks
- the symbolism of the black hole was interesting
- I was invested in the main character and wanted her to succeed
- The. subtle tying in of things that are seemingly disconnected
- Every once in a while there was a paragraph that so crisp it had me completely immersed
- the audiobook was pretty good too
- Everything that could possibly go wrong for the character went wrong. Anything that was good was so short-lived that it was very predictable that some thing would happen that would upset the main character or make her life more difficult. While I believe not making it easy for your character is important, making everything that could go wrong go wrong made the plot super predictable and lowered the stakes for the reader.
- I really don't know how to feel about the black hole. On one hand, it was an interesting device to describe the complexity of generational trauma and depression. On the other hand, I wish it was used and explored just a little bit more throughout the book. I also think the fact that everything was going wrong for her plot-wise really softened the symbolism of her collapse mirrored by the black hole.
- Every few paragraphs there was a sentence or two that spelled things out for the reader that I personally would've deleted in revisions.
- Ending was ok, like I stated before, a little predictable. All the subtle tie-ins from throughout the book was nice, but based on the amount of time that was spent describing those things in the beginning, I would think their tie-in would be more pronounced than it was in its current list-like form.
- Honestly, I felt like this could have been a set of short stories or a novella instead of a novel.
Minor: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Abortion, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
cianishere's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Addiction and Abortion
virgcole398's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Suicide, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Sexual content, Police brutality, and Toxic friendship
candofett's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Addiction, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic