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A review by persephones_daughter
Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"I made mistakes like this all the time, seeking affirmation from the very worst people, so that what I must have been after deep down was confirmation of the fears instead of their dismissals"
i am absolutely convinced that you do not need to love the main character to enjoy a book, the only condition being that it has been done well and i must say that this book did it almost perfectly.
would i enjoy being in company of such awful people ? absolutely not, not in a million years but it isn’t the point !! the only place i would want to meet up with them is maybe the waiting room of a therapist, because God knows they need it 😃
nothing about this story is romantic, both characters have extremely distorted visions of what love and affection is supposed to look like : we have on one part an unnamed narrator who engage in obsessive behaviours to be loved and on the other part an incredibly cold man, Ciaran, who seems unable to provide her with even the most elementary bit of affection.
it was visceral, raw and dark, very much so even, but it still felt real despite everything which makes this story so compelling. i struggled to put this book down because of how engrossed i was in it and the shortness of the chapters sure helped a lot achieve this ! i can have the attention span of a goldfish sometimes so this was very welcomed.
the part about eating disorders resonated with me in a way i wish it didn’t *cough cough* but hey i liked it and it felt really honest.
if you need one more thing to convince you (or to discourage you, but then i probably don't like you very much 🤨), this felt like a Sally Rooney book but on a little more than two bottles of wine and maybe some lines of coke
i am absolutely convinced that you do not need to love the main character to enjoy a book, the only condition being that it has been done well and i must say that this book did it almost perfectly.
would i enjoy being in company of such awful people ? absolutely not, not in a million years but it isn’t the point !! the only place i would want to meet up with them is maybe the waiting room of a therapist, because God knows they need it 😃
nothing about this story is romantic, both characters have extremely distorted visions of what love and affection is supposed to look like : we have on one part an unnamed narrator who engage in obsessive behaviours to be loved and on the other part an incredibly cold man, Ciaran, who seems unable to provide her with even the most elementary bit of affection.
it was visceral, raw and dark, very much so even, but it still felt real despite everything which makes this story so compelling. i struggled to put this book down because of how engrossed i was in it and the shortness of the chapters sure helped a lot achieve this ! i can have the attention span of a goldfish sometimes so this was very welcomed.
the part about eating disorders resonated with me in a way i wish it didn’t *cough cough* but hey i liked it and it felt really honest.
if you need one more thing to convince you (or to discourage you, but then i probably don't like you very much 🤨), this felt like a Sally Rooney book but on a little more than two bottles of wine and maybe some lines of coke
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Alcohol