Review by womangenius - On the Calculation of Volume I

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womangenius 's review for:

On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle

3.0

mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Lots of repetitive language.. which like, duh. That's appropriate for the story, and I liked it to some degree, but it's just way too repetitive to the point it's agonizing to read at points, particularly in the middle when T&T are trying to figure out what's happening. I think this should have been a novella, if it were a stand alone book. Given that it's part of a septology, I feel like all of these (already small books) should really be further combined? It almost feels like the author is trying to pad out their word count. How many times can you tell me that Thomas is a pattern and that the day held no new information and that you couldn't tell him because it would increase the distance between you? This would have been effective the first ten times but by the twentieth and fiftieth I was hating it. You don't have to actually make the reader LITERALLY experience how mind numbing this would be. It's still supposed to be enjoyable to read, in the end.

Anyway... the central relationship itself was rather sweet and it was an interesting enough take on the groundhog day trope. But I started to skim paragraphs at points, just to not lose my mind.

Because of that, I don't really intend to read the rest of the series, but I have been intrigued by the direction the story goes in, according to what I read. Maybe I'll give it another chance one day. I would like to know why it's called on the calculation of volume, and where her journey leads her.

Content Warnings