A review by maddwee
All Fours by Miranda July

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

blitzed through the first part, which imo was the most interesting of the four (the last could’ve been cut entirely honestly). that could be because it’s the only one that resonated with me — i really liked the exploration of this idea that desire can be a vehicle for self discovery/growth. it’s one that i haven’t seen really tackled before. while i suppose her hunger for davey set the stage for what follows, i feel like this idea was kind of dropped, but it’s possible that i was expecting the story to develop in a different way so when it didn’t, i was disappointed and less engaged. non-monogamy didn’t really seem like the right format to confront her newfound feelings or address the issues in her marriage, but iirc, this is auto-fiction so write what you know and all. i could see why this has blown up the way it did, though! we definitely need more narratives about perimenopause, with women discussing the unfairness of it all. we need less narratives framing marriage as oppressive. probably wouldn’t re-read this one — made me a bit anxious and sad about aging, which i don’t think was what july was going for. maybe i’m not new age enough.