Scan barcode
A review by lit_laugh_luv
Nefando by Mónica Ojeda
4.0
I don't even know how to describe Nefando - it's like nothing I've ever read before in both writing style and premise. It is extremely close to a 5 star book for me - the execution and writing is certainly 5 stars, but if I'm also considering my personal enjoyment I have to bump it down to 4 stars given how heavy the content was, and that some bits were beyond my comprehension (which is not something I can fault the book for, just lil ol' me). The plot follows a group of 6 roommates and their varying connections to a video game hosted on the dark web named Nefando, though in principle it is told through retrospective interviews that read more like individual essays. I quite enjoyed this style, though the narrative is a bit fragmented due to it.
By design, the narrative here is very esoteric. At it's core, the book is ultimately about childhood trauma and abuse and how this propels the six roommates to embrace different aspects of counterculture in varying ways. There's critical dissections of the interplay between BDSM and religion, the lived realities of gender dysphoria, our online personas as performance, the limitations of language, the experience of pain, and how we use technology as a form of escapism from our physical selves. It is broad and ambitious in its scope but absolutely does an excellent job at carefully approaching each of these themes.
At times, it can be a bit dense and some sections certainly went over my head - this isn't necessarily a critique on the writing, but mostly my lack of knowledge to some of the historical, cultural, or religious references. As a whole, it's a really interesting perspective on corruption and blame - our six characters are no doubt shaped immensely by their trauma, but their coping methods are all deeply disturbing that you feel a lot of confliction in their narratives.
As a fair warning, the book is incredibly dark - every character's introspections are largely driven by their experiences with childhood physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse. This was pretty well advertised in the marketing of the book - but warning readers just in case! Despite the intensely dark premise, Ojeda never makes things feel gratuitous or strictly for shock value - there is a lot of important consideration given to themes like humanity, morality, forgiveness, and pain. The portrayal of the dark web here is particularly interesting, as there is a lot of broader discussion about the internet as an alternate version of society that still ends up as morally corrupt and depraved despite being a blank slate.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and I would have to say Monica Ojeda is one of the best writers I've ever read from. I certainly wouldn't broadly recommend this book given how intensely disturbing it is, but if you're up for it I would certainly give this a go. I will definitely be reading Jawbone very soon, and will definitely pick up a physical copy of this when it releases and annotate the hell out of this!
Thank you to Coffee House Press for the ARC!
By design, the narrative here is very esoteric. At it's core, the book is ultimately about childhood trauma and abuse and how this propels the six roommates to embrace different aspects of counterculture in varying ways. There's critical dissections of the interplay between BDSM and religion, the lived realities of gender dysphoria, our online personas as performance, the limitations of language, the experience of pain, and how we use technology as a form of escapism from our physical selves. It is broad and ambitious in its scope but absolutely does an excellent job at carefully approaching each of these themes.
At times, it can be a bit dense and some sections certainly went over my head - this isn't necessarily a critique on the writing, but mostly my lack of knowledge to some of the historical, cultural, or religious references. As a whole, it's a really interesting perspective on corruption and blame - our six characters are no doubt shaped immensely by their trauma, but their coping methods are all deeply disturbing that you feel a lot of confliction in their narratives.
As a fair warning, the book is incredibly dark - every character's introspections are largely driven by their experiences with childhood physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse. This was pretty well advertised in the marketing of the book - but warning readers just in case! Despite the intensely dark premise, Ojeda never makes things feel gratuitous or strictly for shock value - there is a lot of important consideration given to themes like humanity, morality, forgiveness, and pain. The portrayal of the dark web here is particularly interesting, as there is a lot of broader discussion about the internet as an alternate version of society that still ends up as morally corrupt and depraved despite being a blank slate.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and I would have to say Monica Ojeda is one of the best writers I've ever read from. I certainly wouldn't broadly recommend this book given how intensely disturbing it is, but if you're up for it I would certainly give this a go. I will definitely be reading Jawbone very soon, and will definitely pick up a physical copy of this when it releases and annotate the hell out of this!
Thank you to Coffee House Press for the ARC!