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A review by ajobyanyothername
How to Sleep at Night by Elizabeth Harris
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Reading this was like watching a spectacularly sad train wreck where you know exactly what is going to happen, because there is literally no way for it to end well, and you keep reading anyway. I'm tempted to just say something like "this is why queer people shouldn't date republicans," which I do think is kind of the point. How do you reconcile sharing everything with somebody who aligns with a party that fundamentally believes you are either an abomination or shouldn't exist in the first place?
There was lots of internal conflict here, and at the end I didn't really feel satisfied with the conclusion of it.
Gabe spends a lot of time wrestling with the decline of Ethan's ethics as he proceeds in his campaign, and this doesn't get resolved. Instead at the end, Gabe is just happy that Ethan still loves him after he "fucked up" by posting his feelings on an instagram story. Ethan endorsed and said despicable things, but he's really kind too! And I understand this is supposed to indicate how complicated this is, but I wasn't satisfied. Plus, I'm never a fan of cheating and so Nicole was completely unlikeable to me as a character.
Everybody kind of sucked, except for Chloe, who was hilarious and honestly one of the best parts. None of them really grew as people either-- they just kind of stumbled into their lives changing by making stupid decisions, not intentional ones.
That said, it was entertaining in a kind of voyeuristic way, because I wanted to know just how messed up they would get before the end.
Entertainment-- 0.75 stars, taking off 0.25 for the cheating
Plot-- 0.5 stars,
Prose-- 0.75 stars, it relied a lot on telling the reader what people were thinking instead of inferences, and it just felt clunky at times.
Character-- 0.75, like I said, they all kind of sucked! but in internally consistent ways, so even if they weren't loveable I did respect that.
Magic star-- 0.5, I was entertained. Gay people can be messy and fucked up too, which I kind of appreciate, actually.
There was lots of internal conflict here, and at the end I didn't really feel satisfied with the conclusion of it.
Everybody kind of sucked, except for Chloe, who was hilarious and honestly one of the best parts. None of them really grew as people either-- they just kind of stumbled into their lives changing by making stupid decisions, not intentional ones.
That said, it was entertaining in a kind of voyeuristic way, because I wanted to know just how messed up they would get before the end.
Entertainment-- 0.75 stars, taking off 0.25 for the cheating
Plot-- 0.5 stars,
Prose-- 0.75 stars, it relied a lot on telling the reader what people were thinking instead of inferences, and it just felt clunky at times.
Character-- 0.75, like I said, they all kind of sucked! but in internally consistent ways, so even if they weren't loveable I did respect that.
Magic star-- 0.5, I was entertained. Gay people can be messy and fucked up too, which I kind of appreciate, actually.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Xenophobia