A review by kelseythomas326
Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.0

This feels like a less-good mashup of SEVERANCE and MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION. The "black hole" metaphor for the main character's depression is too on-the-nose for me, and every character is a caricature, too easy to hate. Etter also brings up social issues like homelessness and drug use but only to make simple observations with no actual feeling, message, or point. (There are lots of references to shit in the streets, supposed to serve as a sign of the prevalence of the unhoused in the money-hungry, tech-obsessed city, though Etter makes small [if obvious] attempts to humanize them as well.)

A quick pandemic warning: I couldn't help but say "Ugh" when, very early in the novel, a certain virus is mentioned, but thankfully, it's only a small presence lurking in the background of the novel. The story takes place before things really get crazy, starting with the very first headlines and ending with everyone only just beginning to mask. So if you, like me, fear, loathe, scoff at, etc., the dreaded "pandemic novel," no worries, this isn't really one.

I did like how stylized everything in the novel was, from the repeated pomegranate imagery to the black hole drawings to the dictionary definitions at the start of each chapter. I just wish I liked the content inside the form more.

All that being said, it was a very easy and quick read, and it broke me out of my reading slump. Thanks, Etter!
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