A review by imogenrose97
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 You spend so much of this book unaware of what CM and X's relationship is like, glimpsing parts of X, and witnessing CM amid her grief. It's hard to get a glimpse of who either are inside of the relationship. I think that this hooked me, I couldn't understand CM's attraction outside of the natural urge to touch a flame burning bright. Which to be fair, is an extraordinarily hard urge to quell. X seemed to be running purely on her feelings in each moment rather than accepting that each action had consequences that would drip long into her future. She made choices that severely impacted her growth, reputation and access not only as an artist and creative but as a friend and partner. It was hard to tell whether she knew that these things would happen or if she blindly walked in the world. What was shown of X was so hard to decipher, we know so much about her actions but due to not ever being inside her head, not ever being able to hear her true thoughts and definitely not being able to trust her actions, words or even her diary entries, we're left with a splintered half person who is reckless and cruel and treats people like they are a cast of pawns to use at her artistic whim.
CM was a whole other kettle of fish, she is fearful, jealous and wary of people who knew X before she did, somehow equating a mysterious past with betrayal of her known relationship and love (though X proves that even a relationship already well established does nothing to quell her thirstless want for more). 
Beyond their relationship the book focused on a fictionalised history of America that intrigued me so much. I thought it provided the perfect backdrop for a messy love and the deeply complexly flawed person shaped by her past.