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helloroci's reviews
205 reviews
The Country Will Bring Us No Peace by Matthieu Simard
2.0
flat characters behaving in ways that aren’t believable, even in the given circumstances. The prose was equally flat and short—unnatural. Maybe just a bad translation.
The Odyssey by Lara Williams
4.0
This is going in my “what the fuck did I just read?” pile and I loved it.
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey
4.75
Rape by deception: This book took me ages to get through, but I loved it. It took so long I think large because “X” is so detestable and because the narrator (her wife) is so intriguing. X is a narcissist, ped*phile sympathizer, creep, a domineering emotionally abusive friend/mentor/partner who consistently chooses younger people she can manipulate and mold—but perhaps, worst of all, X is a phony. It’s hard to muster the desire to CARE about X or her life so to enjoy this book you have to care about X’s wife—not hard to do. She is so interesting; her mind, her life choices, being let into her internal world and reasoning and processing of the discoveries she makes really drives this book. And yes, you wait 200+ of her research before she comes to the same realization the reader came to on page 5, but it’s quite worth it when she does. And the journey is also quite worth it. The fascinating onslaught of art pieces and installations fabricated by the author just keeps giving and giving. I also loved how unapologetically queer it was. I’ll be thinking about it for a long while.
(I won’t get into the issues of the portrayal of the “Southern Territory” because most reviewers of this book go pretty in-depth into critiquing and breaking down the flaws in this portrayal.)
Second Place by Rachel Cusk
2.75
It was mostly vibes. It had some real truths and interesting ruminations. I do NOT recommend the audiobook. The narrator is borderline unbearable and the affect she gives to L was if Gilbert Godfried had a horror accent? Bizarre to say the absolutely least. I will be avoiding this narrator in the future.