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wykirsty's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Classism, Death of parent, Rape, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
orlagal's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Excrement, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Classism, Death, Racism, Sexual assault, Vomit, Alcohol, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Stalking, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence
savannnah_reads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was a strange read because I simultaneously enjoyed the way the author describes girlhood and the experiences that seem to transcend location and background, yet I still spent most of this book very ready for it to be over.
The story being written in first-person plural was really interesting. I’ve never read a book that utilizes that style, but it made the narrative more interesting to hear chunks of the plot from the POV of “we” and then swap to individual POVs set in the future. I think it really embodied the experience of being a young girl terrified of standing out in a bad way; just wanting to belong.
You should read this book if you are fascinated by girlhood, repressed memories from childhood/moments from childhood we didn’t understand at the time and are still left wondering about, & tense and slightly manipulative relationships with moms. Oh, and if you enjoyed books like Bunny and Ripe.
//
“Eddie’s torso is a miracle to us. And we don’t even believe in miracles”
“We would not be born out of sweetness. We would be born out of rage.”
“We think of our mothers when we love them the most. Which is always just after we hate them the most”
“Now I think the only way some men know how to love a woman is to humiliate her”
“People seem to see warmth in me, even when I offer none. Maybe if I was thinner, it would be easier. But it seems to me sometimes that a woman with flesh is a woman who must always be grateful. People don’t hesitate around me. I’m always being asked for favors, and causing offense when I say no.”
“Our mothers call us brutes when they want us to feel bad. It is what they call men they do not like, like our dads”
“We felt foul and fatherly and afraid of ourselves. We tried to make ourselves small. We were coiled up, but we were not broken. And we knew our mothers’ idea of goodness was not measured by morals, but by how much noise we made. And we quickly grew tired of trying to be good in their way.”
“Leaving was glorious until I realized there was no one left to talk to about it”
“He looks like someone returning for a dinner they will not have to clean up”
The story being written in first-person plural was really interesting. I’ve never read a book that utilizes that style, but it made the narrative more interesting to hear chunks of the plot from the POV of “we” and then swap to individual POVs set in the future. I think it really embodied the experience of being a young girl terrified of standing out in a bad way; just wanting to belong.
You should read this book if you are fascinated by girlhood, repressed memories from childhood/moments from childhood we didn’t understand at the time and are still left wondering about, & tense and slightly manipulative relationships with moms. Oh, and if you enjoyed books like Bunny and Ripe.
//
“Eddie’s torso is a miracle to us. And we don’t even believe in miracles”
“We would not be born out of sweetness. We would be born out of rage.”
“We think of our mothers when we love them the most. Which is always just after we hate them the most”
“Now I think the only way some men know how to love a woman is to humiliate her”
“People seem to see warmth in me, even when I offer none. Maybe if I was thinner, it would be easier. But it seems to me sometimes that a woman with flesh is a woman who must always be grateful. People don’t hesitate around me. I’m always being asked for favors, and causing offense when I say no.”
“Our mothers call us brutes when they want us to feel bad. It is what they call men they do not like, like our dads”
“We felt foul and fatherly and afraid of ourselves. We tried to make ourselves small. We were coiled up, but we were not broken. And we knew our mothers’ idea of goodness was not measured by morals, but by how much noise we made. And we quickly grew tired of trying to be good in their way.”
“Leaving was glorious until I realized there was no one left to talk to about it”
“He looks like someone returning for a dinner they will not have to clean up”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Bullying
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Child abuse, and Cursing
geophony's review against another edition
4.0
Still processing (it gets kind of confusing, especially towards the end) but I loved the writing style, I loved the first-person plural narration, and the motifs of stones and doors are really intriguing.
I think I like the confusion/surreality. It's the sort of book where I think I'd get a lot out of a re-read. I should have checked the content warnings before reading but that's on me!
I think I like the confusion/surreality. It's the sort of book where I think I'd get a lot out of a re-read. I should have checked the content warnings before reading but that's on me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Pregnancy and Suicide
rionstorm's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
3.5
I don't know if I loved this book, but I flew through it because I couldn't look away, like when you see a car crash or something really gross.
The plot is hard to follow and each new thread that seems like it will be the new main direction inevitably gets abandoned for whatever the characters are more fixated on at that moment, with a fickleness that is thematically appropriate. That being said, the author probably introduced more elements than she could realisticslly or satisfyingly pull off.
The two main characters, in my opinion, are the setting of Florida and the amalgamation/superorganism that is The Girls. The sensory descriptions are delicious and disgusting, and the sense of place is overpowering. This feels like a horror about being a teenage girl - everything is grubby and decorated and fascinating and boring and pointless and achingly intensely meaningful. The characters are fixated on being seen and chosen, with the two possible outcomes (achieving this or not) both anticipated as equally nightmarish.
The tension between their vulnerability, longing for tenderness, cruelty, and disgust at any softness or kindness feels sharply accurate to the experience of teenage girlhood - particularly the teenage girlhood of children who have been profoundly traumatised but don't have any way to confront or desk with that reality. The way that the narrators dance around their traumas without making direct eye contact with it, both as an unconscious survival mechanism and as a conscious denial, put words on an experience I'd seen play out among my peers as a teenager, but never identified.
Overall I found this book interesting, if confusing, and enjoyed the uneasy atmosphere it created. Reccomend to people who love gross, cruel, painful, conflicting portrayals of girlhood, to people who love descriptions of rot and bugs and swamps, and to fans of Ethel Cain. Do not reccomend to people who want a solid plot or any conclusions.
The plot is hard to follow and each new thread that seems like it will be the new main direction inevitably gets abandoned for whatever the characters are more fixated on at that moment, with a fickleness that is thematically appropriate. That being said, the author probably introduced more elements than she could realisticslly or satisfyingly pull off.
The two main characters, in my opinion, are the setting of Florida and the amalgamation/superorganism that is The Girls. The sensory descriptions are delicious and disgusting, and the sense of place is overpowering. This feels like a horror about being a teenage girl - everything is grubby and decorated and fascinating and boring and pointless and achingly intensely meaningful. The characters are fixated on being seen and chosen, with the two possible outcomes (achieving this or not) both anticipated as equally nightmarish.
The tension between their vulnerability, longing for tenderness, cruelty, and disgust at any softness or kindness feels sharply accurate to the experience of teenage girlhood - particularly the teenage girlhood of children who have been profoundly traumatised but don't have any way to confront or desk with that reality. The way that the narrators dance around their traumas without making direct eye contact with it, both as an unconscious survival mechanism and as a conscious denial, put words on an experience I'd seen play out among my peers as a teenager, but never identified.
Overall I found this book interesting, if confusing, and enjoyed the uneasy atmosphere it created. Reccomend to people who love gross, cruel, painful, conflicting portrayals of girlhood, to people who love descriptions of rot and bugs and swamps, and to fans of Ethel Cain. Do not reccomend to people who want a solid plot or any conclusions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
mzymcmln's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol and Death of parent
Minor: Pedophilia and Sexual assault
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