livsliterarynook's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
nensreads's review against another edition
I have a hard time reading books were a white author uses slurs without censor especially post 2010s
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
sunday_evening's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I enjoyed several little bits of prose in the book, and I liked the dream-like writing/imagery towards the end. However I actually think for once it would’ve helped me to read this book physically, not via audiobook. Due to the stream-of-consciousness style of the book it made it hard to focus. I would’ve given it 4 stars but I had to knock it down to 3 because at approximately 6% of the way through Hval, a white Norwegian author, drops the n-word hard r with absolutely no warning. It was completely unnecessary and Hval could’ve easily referred to it as the “n-word” or even just referred to “racial slurs” or “slurs” in general within the context of the scene. I’m not sure if this was a bad translation choice, or if it’s generally more acceptable for white people to fully say slurs in this type of context in Norway, but either way it should’ve been adapted in a different way for the English version. Not cool. It kind of ruined the book for me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs and Violence
librarymouse's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Surrealism and self-reflection reform as magic in this novel. It is disgusting, devoted, and drenched in adoration and bodily fluids.
I could read this novel a dozen more times and still have trouble categorizing it. It is angsty, lyrical, and shows the process of decontaminating oneself of the harshly imposed shame Christianity often ascribed to difference while avoiding the pitfalls of textual shame - the avoidance or curation of language. Hval writes this novel viscerally, with bodies, their parts, their fluids, and the conceptualization and actualization of sins being given true names and tangible descriptors. The struggle between the individual and externally oppressive religion is relatably detailed, and through that lens, this novel has the same impact when consumed as stained glass church windows divorced from their context.
So many readers who came of age on the internet were first introduced to the concept of a queer tenderness or queerness treated like literary fiction rather than something inherently pornographic, through the realm of fanfiction or short stories written to Tumblr prompts, as was very common in the 2010s. Rather than pulling me out of the story, despite how tenuous my grasp on the continuity of this book was, the narrator intermittently addressing the reader directly as "you" harkens back to that very specific reader insert fanfiction feeling, and the love expressed by the narrator for the reader creates that gorgeous, fluid, and velvety sense of adoration. This is an effect that I remember keenly feeling and craving at the young age of the girl in the puberty portrait that is so often brought up in this novel. I don't know that I can claim this specific tone to be authorial intent, but the mood created for the reader by the form and language of this book, with specific focus on the intersection between naturalism and internet subcultures, intertwines beautifully with the content.
I really don't know if I can recommend this novel to others. It is a lot, but it is also gorgeous.
I could read this novel a dozen more times and still have trouble categorizing it. It is angsty, lyrical, and shows the process of decontaminating oneself of the harshly imposed shame Christianity often ascribed to difference while avoiding the pitfalls of textual shame - the avoidance or curation of language. Hval writes this novel viscerally, with bodies, their parts, their fluids, and the conceptualization and actualization of sins being given true names and tangible descriptors. The struggle between the individual and externally oppressive religion is relatably detailed, and through that lens, this novel has the same impact when consumed as stained glass church windows divorced from their context.
So many readers who came of age on the internet were first introduced to the concept of a queer tenderness or queerness treated like literary fiction rather than something inherently pornographic, through the realm of fanfiction or short stories written to Tumblr prompts, as was very common in the 2010s. Rather than pulling me out of the story, despite how tenuous my grasp on the continuity of this book was, the narrator intermittently addressing the reader directly as "you" harkens back to that very specific reader insert fanfiction feeling, and the love expressed by the narrator for the reader creates that gorgeous, fluid, and velvety sense of adoration. This is an effect that I remember keenly feeling and craving at the young age of the girl in the puberty portrait that is so often brought up in this novel. I don't know that I can claim this specific tone to be authorial intent, but the mood created for the reader by the form and language of this book, with specific focus on the intersection between naturalism and internet subcultures, intertwines beautifully with the content.
I really don't know if I can recommend this novel to others. It is a lot, but it is also gorgeous.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Excrement, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Cursing, Body horror, Abortion, Animal death, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Sexual content
Moderate: Xenophobia, War, and Bullying
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, and Antisemitism
raintje's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Blood, Gore, and Racism
Minor: Genocide and Racial slurs
rebeccameyrink's review against another edition
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Racial slurs
Minor: Racism
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