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eliya's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
so sad i didn’t review this after i read it
took me about 9h 48m to read this book
i imagine me reading this as a 22 year old sobbing, clutching it to my chest curled up while Retired From Sad, New Career in Business by Mitsky plays loudly, so distressed i’m not bothered by the hair of mine that was caught on the wall as i slid down.
i read this book and i began to see myself from back then in such a different light. sympathetic but pitiful. i get why i lost all my friends, i guess. the aching desire to not be alone spun me around more than anything else. i did love this book.
when the dog died, i saw the signs coming and i was truly devastated.
took me about 9h 48m to read this book
i imagine me reading this as a 22 year old sobbing, clutching it to my chest curled up while Retired From Sad, New Career in Business by Mitsky plays loudly, so distressed i’m not bothered by the hair of mine that was caught on the wall as i slid down.
i read this book and i began to see myself from back then in such a different light. sympathetic but pitiful. i get why i lost all my friends, i guess. the aching desire to not be alone spun me around more than anything else. i did love this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, Classism, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Panic attacks/disorders
lavenderpagess's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- 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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
lipstickitotheman's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I liked the writing, but I kept falling asleep while reading. I enjoyed the first half, but kind of waited to be done with the back half. Fascinating take on mer-people--I do feel that it adds something to the genre. I just didn't particularly enjoy it.
Quotes I Liked
-"I had felt, for a long time, that if I started crying I would not stop--that if I finally ripped, there would be nothing to stop my guts from falling out." Chapter 3
-" But as soon as I saw him coming, I thought, Oh God no. He sort of looked like his picture, but more the monkey aesthetic than the hot one. Also, he had an additional werewolf essence that the photo had not captured." Chapter 13
-"Before the donuts, I didn't even know I wanted to die. Now, I attributed my crying to joy. I hadn't known that I'd wanted joy either. I had not ever known that I could have it. Now I was crying because it felt like a miracle--not only that I could want to live at all but that I actually could." Chapter 44
Quotes I Liked
-"I had felt, for a long time, that if I started crying I would not stop--that if I finally ripped, there would be nothing to stop my guts from falling out." Chapter 3
-" But as soon as I saw him coming, I thought, Oh God no. He sort of looked like his picture, but more the monkey aesthetic than the hot one. Also, he had an additional werewolf essence that the photo had not captured." Chapter 13
-"Before the donuts, I didn't even know I wanted to die. Now, I attributed my crying to joy. I hadn't known that I'd wanted joy either. I had not ever known that I could have it. Now I was crying because it felt like a miracle--not only that I could want to live at all but that I actually could." Chapter 44
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Self harm
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Death of parent
recollections's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
"life was okay, though. life was maybe even kind of cute. you simply had to expect nothing from it. that’s what the stoics believed—zeno and seneca, those ancient fuckers."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Animal death
hungeberg's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This review is slightly graphic but won't be too spoilery.
First of all - i did debate giving this 0 or 0,5 stars. However i do find small things of marit in this book. Second of all I was recommended this which is why i choose to finish it even though i struggled with the getting through it.
Let's start with the good;
- It's a complicated story about love addiction with a magical realism twist which I in the big whole like.
- Lucy as a narrator was decent.
Things i disliked
- I'm not one for smutty/erotic books and especially not when the character participating in the sexual acts are not even enjoying it? Why would I want to read about bad hurtful sex in such detail? AND SO MANY TIMES?! And then when Lucy finally found a partner who she enjoyed to fuck then it was some weird very specific "kinky" shit that not everyone would like (least of all me?!).
- I am not a classics student or for that matter a literary one and therefore I don't really have any claim on knowing Sapho's poems that well. However I do as a queer woman find Sapho to be a queer icon/character who participates in romantic/sexual relationships with both genders but especially with women. And somehow the use of her as a character in this book to justify this heterosexual bullshit rubbed me the wrong way.
- the treatment of other women in this book is horrendous.
Things I hated
- Does such a thing as toxic heterosexuality exist? Because then this would be it?
- Lucy seems to learn a few lessons by the end of a book. BUT NOT NEARLY ENOUGH??? At least it wasn't written out in a way that make it seem like she will become a better person ESPECIALLY to the other women in her life.
- The treatment of the dog. Nough said.
First of all - i did debate giving this 0 or 0,5 stars. However i do find small things of marit in this book. Second of all I was recommended this which is why i choose to finish it even though i struggled with the getting through it.
Let's start with the good;
- It's a complicated story about love addiction with a magical realism twist which I in the big whole like.
- Lucy as a narrator was decent.
Things i disliked
- I'm not one for smutty/erotic books and especially not when the character participating in the sexual acts are not even enjoying it? Why would I want to read about bad hurtful sex in such detail? AND SO MANY TIMES?! And then when Lucy finally found a partner who she enjoyed to fuck then it was some weird very specific "kinky" shit that not everyone would like (least of all me?!).
- I am not a classics student or for that matter a literary one and therefore I don't really have any claim on knowing Sapho's poems that well. However I do as a queer woman find Sapho to be a queer icon/character who participates in romantic/sexual relationships with both genders but especially with women. And somehow the use of her as a character in this book to justify this heterosexual bullshit rubbed me the wrong way.
- the treatment of other women in this book is horrendous.
Things I hated
- Does such a thing as toxic heterosexuality exist? Because then this would be it?
- Lucy seems to learn a few lessons by the end of a book. BUT NOT NEARLY ENOUGH??? At least it wasn't written out in a way that make it seem like she will become a better person ESPECIALLY to the other women in her life.
- The treatment of the dog. Nough said.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, Animal cruelty, and Alcoholism
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