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notesofacrocodile's Reviews (257)


this novel gives us the gift of the perspective of a bisexual palestinian, who is also a second-generation immigrant in the united states. we see her complicated relationship with her mother, her personal experiences as a palestinian, her bisexuality, her struggles with exploring healthy intimacy in her romantic relationships, and various intersectionalities.

i wasn't very onboard with the writing in the first half of the book and was considering leaving it with a two-star rating, but then the writing picked up in the second half and became a little more appealing to me. there is no plot as such, and the storyline veers between the past and present and various points in between often, but it didn't leave me confused or disoriented, i was still able to follow the story. the healing process of our protagonist is a long, bumpy road, and while this may put off some readers, i personally thought that this was quite realistic. my favourite theme in this novel was the difficult relationship between the immigrant mother and daughter, especially when the mother has felt like a big portion of their life was wasted away, hence leading to destructive resentment and rage. all in all, this story is still a commendable debut.

haunting and evocative, a story that delves into the unexplained string of suicides of five sisters who are isolated from their peers and towered over by an overprotective mother. i can definitely see how and why this book became a cult classic. it handles topics such as the male gaze and loneliness and isolation quite well. some parts felt unwanted, and i did think that some more topics and characters could have been explored with more depth that could have contributed to the impact of having read this book

3.5☆ — traces the time that our mysterious protagonist works at an erstwhile popular independent cinema, with a cast of peculiar characters and coloured by an atmosphere characterised by grime and dull tones. the insight into the work of those who held jobs at the cinema was horrifying to say the least, an observation of the exploitation of workers under the capitalist tendencies that flavour the manner in which work is experienced. i did not expect the trajectory of the story to get murkier in an unexpected direction, and i liked the writing well enough and how it reflected this trajectory, laced with a suggestion of surrealism towards the end. i think the cinephile book-lovers may want to check this one out.

3☆ — follows an eighteen-year-old who is a pizza delivery person and is also pregnant, placing her at the intersection of that sharp, stabbing anxiety about not knowing what to do with her life and in the throes of prenatal depression, forming a heady cocktail of disastrous decisions and depressive spirals, all accentuated by increasing drunken hazes. at the outset, it is pretty easy to see how bleak life must look for the protagonist- she doesn't have a college degree in hand and has a limited number of jobs she can take on, she doesn't feel unbridled happiness at the prospect of having a baby, she feels uncomfortably smothered by her mother and boyfriend, and the memories of her alcoholic father haunt her even long after his death.

the writing is suprisingly tender and has an emotional core to it, despite it being narrated by a character who is trying very hard to detach herself from her feelings. it has a contemplative quality to it sprinkled throughout, which i think is the reason why it has been compared to elif batuman's the idiot in the blurb. i was confused about why the blurb has used 'funny' as one of the adjectives to describe this book though, because at no point did i think that it was anything of that sort.

looking forward to reading more from this author!

a very entertaining novel featuring a nigerian woman and her serial killer sister, that navigates themes of childhood trauma, beauty standards, and sisterhood. i felt like the story should've been longer, and that the author could have done a bit more by increasing the length, but the story was still stimulating nevertheless. 3.5 stars!

// “A DEFINITION NOT FOUND
IN THE DICTIONARY
Not leaving: an act of trust and love,
often deciphered by children”

will never ever trust markus zusak again because this novel broke me into a million pieces and then made those million pieces weep.

i can imagine oscar wilde sitting by himself and giggling at random quips that he conjured for imaginary scenarios. and then one day he thought 'hey! why don't i compile them all into a book?" and he did, with three very interesting characters, and i would read it all over again

// “If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.”

emily bronte would've made for a great sapphic