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highlordmads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-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
3.75
This book was complicated. It explored a lot of what it means to be human. It was reflective for sure. It was ugly and it was beautiful. A little weird, but fun too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Animal death, Addiction, Abandonment, Death, and Sexual content
sunbathingturtle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A sisterhood of unhinged women, a merman, and the meaninglessness of existence swallowing them all.
It reminded me of Fleabag, but darker, more American, and more hopeless. It was also very funny.
If you’re up for all or that, it’s a stellar read.
It reminded me of Fleabag, but darker, more American, and more hopeless. It was also very funny.
If you’re up for all or that, it’s a stellar read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
sidekicksam's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Faye has recently broken up with her boyfriend of ten years, is at a dead end with her PhD on Sappho and doesn't know what to do with her life anymore. Her sister offers her the opportunity to get out of the desert (Phoenix) and stay at her house at Venice Beach for a while, so she can attend a self-help group while also minding her sister's dog while they're on holiday.
What follows, is the funniest, and in my opinion best unhinged woman story I have read so far. I loved Faye's unlikeable character, the poor choices she makes and her utter deadpan way of dealing with the people around her, but all the while staying relatable to a degree.
(Always relatable *to a degree*, because honestly, who tries to finger out the shit out of their ass before having anal sex with a stranger on a regular basis? Exactly)
Faye is lonely, desperate and apathic, and it gets her in the weirdest situations when she's dating. I'm happy to say I don't share a lot of experiences in the dating field with Faye, but still, some dates, decisions and feelings were so relatable!!!
After the midway point, when things get totally unhinged as Fayestarts an affair with a merman with an enormous dick (and a fine ass apparently because in this universe, the tail starts below the ass) (I still don't really know how to imagine it myself honestly), I was fascinated by how the book both becomes more interesting and also loses my interest. Perhaps because the dynamics with her mythical lover are explored so superficially, or because the book ending wraps up too fast in my opinion.
If you like weird, highly descriptive and unhinged literature, this is a book you wan to read. There were a lot of bits that made me scrunch up my face in public and even exclaim at times (because some things are really graphic or just nasty), so be warned.
Some quotes I've highlighted that might indicate how much I vibed with the writing style:
I have always felt it would be good to be a man. Not only have I always wanted to have my own dick - just to walk around feeling that weight between my legs, that power - but I have longed to escape the time pressures that my body has put on me.
Salsa dancing - now that was the kiss of death, the evidence that Sara wasn't doing quite as well as she claimed. Who salsa danced? Salsa dancing was the last stop on the suicide express.
I wanted to be like, Look, this is what you get when you fuck a quy with a wife. This is what polyamory people are like. You are never going to get to have the whole person. But I kept my mouth shut. Who was I to say anything? I'd just fucked a guy with a girlfriend on a public floor and wanted him to declare his undying love.
"What is it about dying that scares you the most? Are you afraid of having regrets?"
"No," I said. "I think it's really the physical process. Like, the suffocation. I'm so scared to be suffocating and panicking. [...]
"It might be scary for a moment," he said. "Maybe for a few minutes. But then, from what I've seen, you are very free."
"Maybe," I said. "But it's the fear before the freedom that I'm scared of. If I could just go to sleep - just like that, go to sleep and never wake up - I would do that anytime. I would do it tonight. But I'm scared to be conscious while it's happening."
Once in a while the scent of his bottom half would waft up and it smelled like a fish market - not exactly dead fish, the way my fish-tank emergenct had smelled in my youth, but it smelled like blood, the ocean, shit, seaweed... a likke like pussy, actually.
As we kissed, I imagined eating his tail with garlic butter.
I read somewhere that it takes women one and a half fucks to get attached - that it happens in the middle of the second fuck.
"I have my period," I said, dejected.
"I know," he said.
"What do you mean you know?" I laughed.
"I just know. I know because I intuited it. I could feel it. I'm in sync with your vagina. We're always in contact," he said.
Were my incessant thoughts and feelings just a mechanism to escape the nothingness, or was the nothingness comprised of my thoughts and feelings themselves? Was there another way out besides out? It didn't matter now.
What follows, is the funniest, and in my opinion best unhinged woman story I have read so far. I loved Faye's unlikeable character, the poor choices she makes and her utter deadpan way of dealing with the people around her, but all the while staying relatable to a degree.
Faye is lonely, desperate and apathic, and it gets her in the weirdest situations when she's dating. I'm happy to say I don't share a lot of experiences in the dating field with Faye, but still, some dates, decisions and feelings were so relatable!!!
After the midway point, when things get totally unhinged as Faye
If you like weird, highly descriptive and unhinged literature, this is a book you wan to read. There were a lot of bits that made me scrunch up my face in public and even exclaim at times (because some things are really graphic or just nasty), so be warned.
Some quotes I've highlighted that might indicate how much I vibed with the writing style:
I have always felt it would be good to be a man. Not only have I always wanted to have my own dick - just to walk around feeling that weight between my legs, that power - but I have longed to escape the time pressures that my body has put on me.
Salsa dancing - now that was the kiss of death, the evidence that Sara wasn't doing quite as well as she claimed. Who salsa danced? Salsa dancing was the last stop on the suicide express.
I wanted to be like, Look, this is what you get when you fuck a quy with a wife. This is what polyamory people are like. You are never going to get to have the whole person. But I kept my mouth shut. Who was I to say anything? I'd just fucked a guy with a girlfriend on a public floor and wanted him to declare his undying love.
"What is it about dying that scares you the most? Are you afraid of having regrets?"
"No," I said. "I think it's really the physical process. Like, the suffocation. I'm so scared to be suffocating and panicking. [...]
"It might be scary for a moment," he said. "Maybe for a few minutes. But then, from what I've seen, you are very free."
"Maybe," I said. "But it's the fear before the freedom that I'm scared of. If I could just go to sleep - just like that, go to sleep and never wake up - I would do that anytime. I would do it tonight. But I'm scared to be conscious while it's happening."
Once in a while the scent of his bottom half would waft up and it smelled like a fish market - not exactly dead fish, the way my fish-tank emergenct had smelled in my youth, but it smelled like blood, the ocean, shit, seaweed... a likke like pussy, actually.
As we kissed, I imagined eating his tail with garlic butter.
I read somewhere that it takes women one and a half fucks to get attached - that it happens in the middle of the second fuck.
"I have my period," I said, dejected.
"I know," he said.
"What do you mean you know?" I laughed.
"I just know. I know because I intuited it. I could feel it. I'm in sync with your vagina. We're always in contact," he said.
Were my incessant thoughts and feelings just a mechanism to escape the nothingness, or was the nothingness comprised of my thoughts and feelings themselves? Was there another way out besides out? It didn't matter now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, and Sexual content
ladybergart's review against another edition
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Misogyny, and Sexual content
bersblue's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexism
ivyleiff's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-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
4.25
that was so ??!???! but i also kind of loved it?? 🧜♂️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, Self harm, Mental illness, Drug use, Death, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Excrement, and Vomit
roraisabella's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
this book was enjoyable, but i just couldn’t get past how insufferable the main character is. she is terrible and selfish and while that might be the point i don’t know, i just couldn’t enjoy her never-ending monologues. her internalised misogyny is too much. the love scenes were good but not a lot else. don’t read this if suicide themes, animal abuse and addiction trigger you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Addiction, Excrement, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, Misogyny, Medical content, Death, Alcohol, Animal death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
literaryliaisons's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Vomit, and Drug use
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
angharad's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Sexual content, Blood, Animal death, Death, Excrement, and Grief
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