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A review by el_tuttle
Misrecognition by Madison Newbound
1.75
Listless after a poly breakup, Elsa moves back with her parents. By day she obsesses over the actor-character and by night she consumes mindless videos online. Fans of Monica Heisey's Really Good, Actually, Lillian Fishman's Acts of Service, and/or Emma Cline's The Guest will find something they like in this story, which covers obsession, relationships, and a general lack of meaning in one's early 20s. In general, this is best suited for readers of the New Adult genre.
Yet, I found this wanting. The protagonist is incredibly hard to like. I even enjoy an unlikeable protagonist, but it's not clear that this is intentional by the author. The main character is someone I'm simultaneously uninterested in and embarrassed for, the walking embodiment of cringe. I want to shake her and tell her to grow the fuck up. Usually second-hand embarrassment results in something dramatic and exciting happening, but this story offers very little action.
I love a good commentary about being chronically online, and I thought from the novel's synopsis and Patricia Lockwood comparison that perhaps this book would offer such a critique. Instead, we just watch Elsa scroll on her phone and watch YouTube without any nuance, critique, or insight. The "commentary" provided is akin to "The internet causes alienation," when we're about 15 years into that bandwagon opinion.
I also had trouble getting into the way this was written. The author purposefully uses strange phrasing about the characters in Elsa's life - "the person called Sam," "the man and the woman," and "the actor-character." I kept waiting for this to be a relevant stylistic choice, but I never found it provided any depth or meaning to the story. This may have worked better if Elsa herself had more depth or personal growth that could serve as a contrast to these fleeting, nameless people in her orbit.
I nearly DNF'd this a number of times. The story picks up about two thirds of the way through, but never enough that it's worth having slogged through the rest.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-arc in exchange for my unbiased review.
Yet, I found this wanting. The protagonist is incredibly hard to like. I even enjoy an unlikeable protagonist, but it's not clear that this is intentional by the author. The main character is someone I'm simultaneously uninterested in and embarrassed for, the walking embodiment of cringe. I want to shake her and tell her to grow the fuck up. Usually second-hand embarrassment results in something dramatic and exciting happening, but this story offers very little action.
I love a good commentary about being chronically online, and I thought from the novel's synopsis and Patricia Lockwood comparison that perhaps this book would offer such a critique. Instead, we just watch Elsa scroll on her phone and watch YouTube without any nuance, critique, or insight. The "commentary" provided is akin to "The internet causes alienation," when we're about 15 years into that bandwagon opinion.
I also had trouble getting into the way this was written. The author purposefully uses strange phrasing about the characters in Elsa's life - "the person called Sam," "the man and the woman," and "the actor-character." I kept waiting for this to be a relevant stylistic choice, but I never found it provided any depth or meaning to the story. This may have worked better if Elsa herself had more depth or personal growth that could serve as a contrast to these fleeting, nameless people in her orbit.
I nearly DNF'd this a number of times. The story picks up about two thirds of the way through, but never enough that it's worth having slogged through the rest.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-arc in exchange for my unbiased review.