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sarahcd17's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
marareading's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
This is SO UNHINGED! (Compliment) Tech billionaire murdery ex, unkept new companions, dolphin lover guy and scammer, father obsessed with sex doll wife (step-mom?) 😂 it's a wild adventure of WTAF is happening. Honestly it was funny and so random I couldn't stop.
nikolai_k's review against another edition
dark
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
♪<i> They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning
No one, you see, is smarter than he </i> ♪
Not as good as "Tampa," but this wacky ride has everything: amoral tech billionaires, lifelike sex dolls, futuristic gadgets, dolphin love, trailer parks, Rascals, rascals, living off a grid, puking, faking it till you make it, finding out constant faking eats the soul...
No one, you see, is smarter than he </i> ♪
Not as good as "Tampa," but this wacky ride has everything: amoral tech billionaires, lifelike sex dolls, futuristic gadgets, dolphin love, trailer parks, Rascals, rascals, living off a grid, puking, faking it till you make it, finding out constant faking eats the soul...
ehomant's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
for the first 10-15% of this audiobook I was convinced it was going to be a flop for me but thankfully I was wrong! this book flirts with the absurd—weird megalomaniac billionaire inventions, a con man sexually attracted to dolphins, a man named liver—but it’s interwoven with themes and events that are all too real—again, weird megalomaniac billionaire inventions, reckoning with abuses of power and wealth, escaping from and reinventing yourself after an abusive relationship, and the unlikely friendships that buoy you through difficult times.
maceyshofroth's review against another edition
I tried to like this book. The beginning wasn’t terrible and the subject matter had potential. But wow did it fall apart. The characters were completely unlikable and unbelievable. Hazel had no reason to be such a lazy pile of shit and it drove me nuts. Her parents disliked her for no reason. She believed Byron was going to kill her but nothing about Byron made me believe he would do that, so i didn’t give a shit. The writer had no idea how to move through time. One sentence, someone was driving a car and then the next sentence they were standing in a building and I had zero idea how they got there. And her constant use of passive voice?!?!? Weak. Her dialogue was forced and unnatural. She tried to make her characters clever but they were all annoying. The jasper story line was painful to read and took way too long to become relevant to the plot. Don’t read this book. Seriously.
midnighthag's review against another edition
4.0
Kind of obsessed with this writer in the way I love Jen Beagin
blankpagealex's review against another edition
5.0
Alissa Nutting's "Made for Love" was dark, funny, unpredictable and so much fun. This book is packed with ideas about love and sex in our increasingly connected world and explores the power dynamics inherent in any sexual encounter. Nutting does a masterful job of exploring the psyche of her two main characters without making either of them feel exclusively like victims or perpetrators. The crux of the argument when it comes to love and sex is that everything is complicated and Made for Love masterfully explores those intricacies through humorous and sometimes terrifying situations.
The story follows Hazel, a woman who escapes an emotionally abusive relationship with her husband Byron, the CEO of an all-encompassing technological empire called "Gogol" (no connection to real-world companies, obviously). She moves in with her aging father who has recently taken up with a sex doll to live out his twilight years in the company of a non-speaking partner. This is the first of many types of sexual relationships that happen between characters who have varying degrees of power.
Separately we meet Jasper, a handsome "Greek Jesus" looking con-man who convinces women to fall for him only to swindle them out of their life savings. After his latest con, Jasper experiences an encounter that, let's just say "alters" his sexual preferences in a way that he does not expect and creates a desire in him that he lacks the capacity to fulfill.
Jasper and Hazel's unfulfilled quest for love is explored by each of their encounters with various sexual situations and wildly different partners as the book comments on the way we see love and loneliness in a constantly connected world. Both characters seek to disappear from the public eye while they simultaneously long for companionship and connection and they are forced to confront that radical notion that human beings might need to find each other without technological intervention.
As the plot progresses, the characters find themselves in increasingly absurd situations until everything congeals in a climax that is totally unpredictable and immensely satisfying. Nutting crafts that rare ending that only increases appreciation for everything that came before it.
The story follows Hazel, a woman who escapes an emotionally abusive relationship with her husband Byron, the CEO of an all-encompassing technological empire called "Gogol" (no connection to real-world companies, obviously). She moves in with her aging father who has recently taken up with a sex doll to live out his twilight years in the company of a non-speaking partner. This is the first of many types of sexual relationships that happen between characters who have varying degrees of power.
Separately we meet Jasper, a handsome "Greek Jesus" looking con-man who convinces women to fall for him only to swindle them out of their life savings. After his latest con, Jasper experiences an encounter that, let's just say "alters" his sexual preferences in a way that he does not expect and creates a desire in him that he lacks the capacity to fulfill.
Jasper and Hazel's unfulfilled quest for love is explored by each of their encounters with various sexual situations and wildly different partners as the book comments on the way we see love and loneliness in a constantly connected world. Both characters seek to disappear from the public eye while they simultaneously long for companionship and connection and they are forced to confront that radical notion that human beings might need to find each other without technological intervention.
As the plot progresses, the characters find themselves in increasingly absurd situations until everything congeals in a climax that is totally unpredictable and immensely satisfying. Nutting crafts that rare ending that only increases appreciation for everything that came before it.
mgoorchenko's review against another edition
4.0
Probably more at 3 1/2 for me but for the excellent, hilarious writing. I laughed out loud throughout this book while also shaking my head at the absurdity of the story and every aspect of it. When the dolphins showed up and Jasper devised his plot, I just about died. Voda’s character dropped this rating significantly for me, but the ending was fairly satisfying.
lentilbacon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0