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rachaelwho's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Good. Would have liked a little more story from a little fewer characters. Lulu's excellent passage felt a little lifted from Carmen Maria Machado, which feels like an odd thing to say about Jennifer Egan so maybe I'm mistaken but...
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
thebakerbookworm's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
Despite having the subtitle "A Novel," this book is actually a collection of short stories...they are all set in the same world and some of the characters have cameos in multiple stories, but other than that, each story could be read on its own, or out of order. It was confusing to me at first, because I kept expecting to return to the first story, and then the second, etc., but once I understood that they were short stories, I actually enjoyed the book more.
Maybe I would've understood it more if I'd read the Goon Squad book first? Not sure, but I loved some of the stories, found others boring, didn't like some of them. I think my favorite was the one written entirely via letters. I enjoyed the complexity of the characters that are presented, though most of them make questionable decisions and aren't very likable.
I did really appreciate the commentary on memories and social media and just how much of yourself you're willing to share with strangers. A lot of food for thought. I mean, if you could upload all your memories online and be able to access them at any time, and actually watch them as you experienced them, like a movie, but they would also be available for anyone in the world to watch them, would you do it?
Thanks as always to Libro.fm, Simon and Schuster Audio, and the author for my ALC.
Maybe I would've understood it more if I'd read the Goon Squad book first? Not sure, but I loved some of the stories, found others boring, didn't like some of them. I think my favorite was the one written entirely via letters. I enjoyed the complexity of the characters that are presented, though most of them make questionable decisions and aren't very likable.
I did really appreciate the commentary on memories and social media and just how much of yourself you're willing to share with strangers. A lot of food for thought. I mean, if you could upload all your memories online and be able to access them at any time, and actually watch them as you experienced them, like a movie, but they would also be available for anyone in the world to watch them, would you do it?
Thanks as always to Libro.fm, Simon and Schuster Audio, and the author for my ALC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Cursing, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Addiction and Gun violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
ashley_hm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide attempt and Alcoholism
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