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A review by jashanac
Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk
Enjoyment/Appreciation Level: Mid-range.
TL;DR:
Enjoyable prose. Very slow-paced, introspective, vibes-based plot. Didn't like part two as much as part one, despite lovely thematic work around grief and death. Did NOT like the ending.
Ideal Reader:
Someone who appreciates a slow-paced, character study and themes of grief, processing grief, and death feeling like possession.
Writing:
This is a translated work so of course I'm not sure what the reading experience would be like in the original language, but I enjoyed the prose here. There were some lovely lines. Though generally speaking there wasn't a lot of flourish. But when there was some, it resulted in some poignant lines.
Characters:
I found the first MC fascinating/compelling. She was so hypocritical and oblivious to it. Her own hypocrisy on display — sayingFrancisco is a “vile creature capable of anything if it meant saving his skin” And she was quite delusional too. The delusion! “I couldn’t bear the idea of my image forming part of an archive alongside common thieves, swindlers, and opportunistic murderers.”
Plot/Pacing:
This is literary and it feels like it, so I don't know how much of my issues here can be "blamed" on that... but there was definitely an air of ambivalently floating around without any real grounding in choices being made. I don't understand why she didn't just stab herself to end her life, when she was clearly miserable and didn't want to exist anymore. Why bother locking yourself into a tomb/crypt to never be opened? Just to suffer for eternity I guess? But we don't know bc the book doesn't tell us.
Then the pacing in part two was verrrryyyy slow. It was much more introspective, just hanging out with our second MC's inner thoughts as she was processing through her grief. And again, we have the very ambiguous, ambivalent, floating-through-life-in-a-daze literary vibes.
And I really did not like the pacing of the ending. I didn't mind HOW it ended, but we got no real explanation for why the second MC made the choice she made... especially where it pertains to her son... I don't know.
Themes:
Grief. Looming death taking over our bodies and our lives.
Memorable Quotes/Standout Moments:
"I'd said to Julia that death had taken a seat at my family's table, but that wasn't it: Death had come to inhabit my body. It was a possession, not a visit."
"No one was willing to utter or even hear the word death, which my mother had spoken so forcefully with her body." OOF! A liiiiine
TL;DR:
Enjoyable prose. Very slow-paced, introspective, vibes-based plot. Didn't like part two as much as part one, despite lovely thematic work around grief and death. Did NOT like the ending.
Ideal Reader:
Someone who appreciates a slow-paced, character study and themes of grief, processing grief, and death feeling like possession.
Writing:
This is a translated work so of course I'm not sure what the reading experience would be like in the original language, but I enjoyed the prose here. There were some lovely lines. Though generally speaking there wasn't a lot of flourish. But when there was some, it resulted in some poignant lines.
Characters:
I found the first MC fascinating/compelling. She was so hypocritical and oblivious to it. Her own hypocrisy on display — saying
Plot/Pacing:
This is literary and it feels like it, so I don't know how much of my issues here can be "blamed" on that... but there was definitely an air of ambivalently floating around without any real grounding in choices being made. I don't understand why she didn't
Then the pacing in part two was verrrryyyy slow. It was much more introspective, just hanging out with our second MC's inner thoughts as she was processing through her grief. And again, we have the very ambiguous, ambivalent, floating-through-life-in-a-daze literary vibes.
And I really did not like the pacing of the ending. I didn't mind HOW it ended, but we got no real explanation for why the second MC made the choice she made... especially where it pertains to her son... I don't know.
Themes:
Grief. Looming death taking over our bodies and our lives.
Memorable Quotes/Standout Moments:
"I'd said to Julia that death had taken a seat at my family's table, but that wasn't it: Death had come to inhabit my body. It was a possession, not a visit."
"No one was willing to utter or even hear the word death, which my mother had spoken so forcefully with her body." OOF! A liiiiine
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Gore, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content
Minor: Confinement