Reviews

The Odyssey by Lara Williams

miriammm's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

maisieg's review against another edition

2.0

Hmm, I didn’t love this. In fact I didn’t even like this book. I almost gave up midway but stuck with it hoping some of the brilliance of supper club would come through.

The ‘cult’ aspect of the story felt underwhelming and under developed and all in all, it left me feeling a little hollow and uneasy.

emilyjanehassell's review against another edition

2.0

Enjoyed the menial quality and monotony which felt reminiscent of Convenience Store Woman, but the ending has left me very confused… 

mia_booklover's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

jg34's review against another edition

I’m sure there is supposed to be some deeper meaning to all this nonsense, or maybe it is actually playing with themes from Homer’s Odyssey which I haven’t read in 10+ years… but I have absolutely no clue what I just read. If you’re looking for weird fiction, this is definitely that! The characters are weird and the plot is weird and the world is weird. 

In an attempt to understand, here is what happened (as well as I can explain it anyway):

Ingrid has a troubled marriage, infertility problems, and begins binge drinking. Then she up and leaves her husband to work on a luxury cruise ship. This starts five years later. On the ship Ingrid has these two weird ass friends who are brother and sister (I think?) Mia and Ezra who come over and play house together. Like literally they pretend to be mom dad and baby. That has got to be a metaphor or something but I dONT GET IT. Anyway she gets to leave the boat every so often and when she does she gets absolutely plastered and causes mayhem, in one of them her and Ezra (try to) have sex. But this never gets back to Mia. One day Ingrid returns to her cabin to find some random dude named Brian, a guest she is meant to take care of. Brian becomes baby. She tells her husband she has a baby named Brian. He invites them to move in with him. But she gets in the boat, which is also slowly sinking (I think literally) into chaos, to find out Brian has left. Similar to how she left her crazy overbearing parents years ago. All this time she has a mentorship with a dude named Keith who invites her in to tell him a story and then repeat it twice. Don’t ask why, there are no whys. At one point she takes a bite of him, and then he starts biting guests. Oh yeah he also makes the workers cut off a finger.

I am so confused. 

Either the author is too smart for me and this is a study of the human condition or some crap I am not understanding, or it is just silly and kooky for the sake of being silly and kooky. I have no clue how to rate this

bivie's review against another edition

4.0

A solid 3.5. Maybe even a 3.8. So I rounded up to a 4. Very quirky. Got darker and darker as it went on. Was enjoyable. An all around good book. Don’t go in thinking you’re getting a masterpiece and you’ll be fine.

jordanh's review against another edition

2.0

Supper Club was so much better, this was weird. It never really had me, but it totally lost me with that first land scene where she's staring at the man and the wife notices and glares at her before letting her husband know and he smiles at her and she smiles back. Gross. Also what kinda game is families, are you 7 years old? Weird.

averie's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

zukythebookbum's review against another edition

this book was so bizarre, I really liked it. 

feels like it’s a good comp for Children of Paradise, Waiting for Ted, and The Book of X.

trishafaust's review against another edition

2.0

Loved the writing and the premise of a cruise ship cult.
Didn't like the lack of answers or explanations for anything in the end.
Ultimately, not the read for me, and I can't see myself recommending this to others.