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A review by realadhdoug
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
4.0
I was really excited about trying this book out, because the premise seemed so unique. And, for the most part, it lived up to my expectations. Although it’s not necessarily original at this point, I enjoyed the subversion of the idea about what makes someone a monster. But the more original, striking, and well-executed theme was the idea about what it means to love someone—as the protagonist learns to live with her lover and honor her as an independent being rather than consuming her and absorbing her into herself. Thought that was really cool.
The story fell a little short for me in a few parts. First, the romance seemed too abrupt—so much so that I thought for a moment that I’d skipped over a section. But nope, they go from 0 to star-crossed lovers in no time. It kind of takes away from the realism that of the actual story and turns their relationship into a mere symbol or literary device. And on that note, the naming of the characters after types of literature or poetry seemed overly allegorical and it took me out of the story a little. Didn’t like that.
Despite my quibbles, though, this was a grotesquely imaginative and peculiarly romantic tale that kept me interested the whole time. There are some nice twists and lots of graphic, squishy, horror that kept me engaged. I’d recommend it if that sounds like something that wouldn’t gross you out too much, LOL.
The story fell a little short for me in a few parts. First, the romance seemed too abrupt—so much so that I thought for a moment that I’d skipped over a section. But nope, they go from 0 to star-crossed lovers in no time. It kind of takes away from the realism that of the actual story and turns their relationship into a mere symbol or literary device. And on that note, the naming of the characters after types of literature or poetry seemed overly allegorical and it took me out of the story a little. Didn’t like that.
Despite my quibbles, though, this was a grotesquely imaginative and peculiarly romantic tale that kept me interested the whole time. There are some nice twists and lots of graphic, squishy, horror that kept me engaged. I’d recommend it if that sounds like something that wouldn’t gross you out too much, LOL.