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perfectsham's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Laura Sims is a master at writing deeply flawed, messy, villainous and frankly bonkers women. This book is a delicious downward spiral of a truly terrible person, but initially we kind of sympathise with her due to her infertility struggles and her pretty insensitive husband. As the book progresses, it becomes clear that she is the furthest thing from a reliable narrator.
WARNING: a cat is killed on page so if this is a deal-breaker for you, skip it.
WARNING: a cat is killed on page so if this is a deal-breaker for you, skip it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Stalking
brashcandicoot's review
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Stalking, and Alcohol
chuckstafer's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Another really good novel/novella from Laura Sims! The protagonist in this story is so unhinged yet you can't help but feel for her and what she's been going through in the story. As the story progressed, most of the time was focused on things that were not what I expected which only added to the main character's spiraling mental state. Once things reached a tipping point, the story spiraled quickly to an unexpected ending. Really good debut for Laura Sims!
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death
jahoffie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Would not read again, will be donating the book. I'm feeling quite disturbed following reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Infertility
Moderate: Stalking
marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There are lots of really interesting themes woven into this short novel by the inimitable Laura Sims. The narrator is a poetry professor who is incredibly bitter about her infertility and the consequent dissolution of her marriage. Surrounded by the invasiveness of motherhood, she becomes increasingly obsessed with her neighbor—a famous actress—and the seemingly idealistic life she leads with husband and children in tow. Does she want to know her, be her, or keep her? Looker is a novel about personhood as performance with phenomenal narration by Katherine Fenton, for whose performance I’d listen to nearly anything.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, and Stalking
angelakay's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Infertility
amberthepanda_008's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
opldxblqo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
imperfectcj's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I appreciate how Sims puts us in the mind of a woman who's gradually becoming unhinged. I like the exercise of trying to figure out from the clues the narrator gives how a scene would look from other characters' perspectives. But being inside the head of that kind of narrator always leaves me with a vague sense that I have done something wrong, which is unpleasant until it fades. So, I like the book but I need a palate cleanser.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
rosie_mac's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Like many other reviewers, this book wasn’t what I was expecting. It’s not really a thriller at all, but focuses on the gradual unravelling of the protagonist’s mental state. In this regard it was pretty successful, and it did well at highlighting the pressure that women are put under to have children - this was one of the main causes of her anguish, even though I couldn’t tell if she even actually wanted them (she certainly didn’t come across as maternal). But overall I can’t say I really enjoyed it, the characters weren’t at all likeable, which isn’t necessarily a problem for me, but they weren’t even particularly interesting - so I wasn’t invested in any of them, and didn’t have anyone to root for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Infertility and Mental illness