luheilbron's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
divyamaniar's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.25
rhiannonflint's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-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
3.25
bumble_abi's review against another edition
dark
reflective
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? It's complicated
3.5
I can understand why this gets labelled horror but it didn't feel like horror to me. A novella preoccupied with things bodily and unruly and caving in on themselves, the atmosphere and sensuality are immaculate but I just wasn't sure what Hval was getting at with the encompassing Eden metaphor. Certainly says something about temptation and insularity and desire and decay, but I'm struggling to straighten out the thesis of those themes in my head. Maybe I need to read it again with my lit crit head on, maybe it's just not that deep (and certainly with themes as big and unstable as original sin and queer sexuality and growth and decay, I struggle to see how less than 150 pages can advance anything especially nuanced). So I suppose an experience of two halves - gorgeous writing, vivid imagery, an atmosphere that will eat you whole, but persisting on mostly vibes with little real bite.
sophieskilling's review against another edition
3.0
not to be a freak but i thought this was going to be way weirder from the way people talk about it - and it should’ve been !
did not enjoy that i was absolutely bashed over the head with the garden of eden/paradise lost metaphor multiple times. i got it the first time u spelled it out to me! in fact i got it from the title! please trust ur readers to not be stupid and to get it by themselves
i think i did enjoy it overall, just left with a sense of disappointment over what it could have been
did not enjoy that i was absolutely bashed over the head with the garden of eden/paradise lost metaphor multiple times. i got it the first time u spelled it out to me! in fact i got it from the title! please trust ur readers to not be stupid and to get it by themselves
i think i did enjoy it overall, just left with a sense of disappointment over what it could have been
lauraleemcpherson's review against another edition
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
3.5
In this slim novella, we follow Jo, who has moved from Norway to the UK for uni, and finds herself moving into an old brewery with a strange woman, after failing to find any suitable accommodation with fellow students. Over the course of Jo’s time at the brewery, her desire and sexuality (for men & women) is awoken and unravelled (as one might peel an apple) and the boundaries with her flatmate are increasingly blurred and traversed.
This is a hard review to write, because I absolutely loved parts of it, but equally I think elements of it are overhyped?
My main issue was that it’s really not as disgusting as everyone says; it wasn’t even the piss-iest book I read this month. As someone who gets supremely icked out by mould and rot in real life, I was expecting to find my skin prickling whilst reading this. Instead, Hval’s descriptions of mould and rot came across as kind of cute? (I think this is because Jo has literally 0 reaction to any of it, so naturally reading from her POV, so do I). I had also expected the house to really come into its own as a character, but apart from having thin walls you can hear through and growing mould on the walls and stairs (not an uncommon experience for a lot of renters) it felt kind of mundane and not particularly horrific or magical realist at all. I also didn’t feel like the continual return to the fall of Eve metaphor didn’t really add anything in such a short novel with such thin and transparent characters but maybe I just didn’t get it. I also don’t really like the romanticisation of a person rotting and unable to drink / eat / care for themselves? Like the ‘aesthetic’ of rotting and falling into disrepair feels problematic to me.
As for the things I did like…
The claustrophobic, close quarters worked really well for building the sexual tension and the heightened senses that come with both of these things. The use of apples to represent the female body and sexuality - skin, smells, sounds.
It’s a really compelling read with some absolutely stunning descriptions. Of these, my favourite parts were actually the sections before Jo moves into the brewery. The exploration of the isolation of starting uni as an outsider and how the environment works to reinforce these feelings was excellent. I really enjoyed the following passage for how it explores the surrealism of the absence of texture -
‘The food in the breakfast hall was slippery and fluid: silky soft white bread slices that dissolved like candyfloss in my mouth. Glutinous jelly-like jam without seeds and of an uncertain berry flavour. Butter, smooth peanut butter, honey, milk, Marmite and ketchup. Soft rice puffs and soggy fried eggs.’
This is a hard review to write, because I absolutely loved parts of it, but equally I think elements of it are overhyped?
My main issue was that it’s really not as disgusting as everyone says; it wasn’t even the piss-iest book I read this month. As someone who gets supremely icked out by mould and rot in real life, I was expecting to find my skin prickling whilst reading this. Instead, Hval’s descriptions of mould and rot came across as kind of cute? (I think this is because Jo has literally 0 reaction to any of it, so naturally reading from her POV, so do I). I had also expected the house to really come into its own as a character, but apart from having thin walls you can hear through and growing mould on the walls and stairs (not an uncommon experience for a lot of renters) it felt kind of mundane and not particularly horrific or magical realist at all. I also didn’t feel like the continual return to the fall of Eve metaphor didn’t really add anything in such a short novel with such thin and transparent characters but maybe I just didn’t get it. I also don’t really like the romanticisation of a person rotting and unable to drink / eat / care for themselves? Like the ‘aesthetic’ of rotting and falling into disrepair feels problematic to me.
As for the things I did like…
The claustrophobic, close quarters worked really well for building the sexual tension and the heightened senses that come with both of these things. The use of apples to represent the female body and sexuality - skin, smells, sounds.
It’s a really compelling read with some absolutely stunning descriptions. Of these, my favourite parts were actually the sections before Jo moves into the brewery. The exploration of the isolation of starting uni as an outsider and how the environment works to reinforce these feelings was excellent. I really enjoyed the following passage for how it explores the surrealism of the absence of texture -
‘The food in the breakfast hall was slippery and fluid: silky soft white bread slices that dissolved like candyfloss in my mouth. Glutinous jelly-like jam without seeds and of an uncertain berry flavour. Butter, smooth peanut butter, honey, milk, Marmite and ketchup. Soft rice puffs and soggy fried eggs.’
qontfnns's review against another edition
3.0
that.. was... a vibe..., a rotting one. i commend Hval's atmosphere game. it's a whirlpool to another dimension full of rotting moldy stinky sticky (n mb kinky) things, kinda psychedelic, with real fungi mushrooming here and there. but well, there's a charm in bizarre disturbing things and this was quite a meta sensory experience.
emmatarswell's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0