znnys's review against another edition
3.0
For some reason this book just didn't click with me until the ending. I think because there were a lot of wandering tangential discussions and not quite a lot of action until the ending? It took me a while to read through it just because it kind of felt like a chore. But I think the ending wrapped everything up really nicely, in a way that was unexpectedly tragic. I wish I had enjoyed this book more but it mostly bored and underwhelmed me until the last two chapters. I'd say this would make for a better film script than a book, but... I guess you could argue that's kind of what The Shape of Water is? Though this is arguably a lot bleaker. The entire situation with Estelle and her children totally caught me off guard.
gloamglozergay's review against another edition
3.0
An odd reading experience. It didn’t change my life but I didn’t dislike it. The author is clearly a skilled writer - the dialogue in particular is largely engaging and distinctive, with the conversations between Dorothy and her best (only) friend being the highlights for me. There are moments of simple, lucid poetry in the narration. But clearly a choice was made to write the bulk of the narration in a very bare-bones way, which often leaves things with a little too much distance to be impactful - negative space without contrasting activity is just blankness. So much of the storyline was just describing routine, and the parts that weren’t were still described with such stark mundanity that they felt distant and pedestrian. As a result, despite its short length, I felt it dragging in the middle and end. I wouldn’t call it a romance, for sure; it’s doing much more work to just explore the social forces & personal circumstances that might cause someone to be interested in a monsterfucker romance in the first place. No real sensuality to get in the way. There are definitely interesting ideas and commentaries at its core. Monsterfucker romance by way of Hemingway.
noelle_tofigh's review against another edition
5.0
This book has it all: humor, gender politics, a romance between a frog-like creature and a lonely housewife, and metafictional genius.
In order to understand this book you have to have read it or it will be spoiled completely. So, without spoiling it I will say that it is the precursor to so many of the weird books about the female experience that have cropped up lately like The Harpy, The Need, and The Crane Husband. There is an other-worldly quality to this story that takes place in a very normal city in the very real world.
Mrs. Caliban is like a flower. The more I think about the story, the more it opens up to me. But, perhaps, a more apt comparison would be the book as a wolf in sheep's clothes. On one level it is a wild romp, a strange little tale about a woman's encounter with someone new and different. But if you go just below the surface, the novel tears into the worst problems of our world and plays with the reader in a complex, startling way.
In order to understand this book you have to have read it or it will be spoiled completely. So, without spoiling it I will say that it is the precursor to so many of the weird books about the female experience that have cropped up lately like The Harpy, The Need, and The Crane Husband. There is an other-worldly quality to this story that takes place in a very normal city in the very real world.
Mrs. Caliban is like a flower. The more I think about the story, the more it opens up to me. But, perhaps, a more apt comparison would be the book as a wolf in sheep's clothes. On one level it is a wild romp, a strange little tale about a woman's encounter with someone new and different. But if you go just below the surface, the novel tears into the worst problems of our world and plays with the reader in a complex, startling way.
helenh1975's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lisao's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bbboeken's review against another edition
5.0
Chances are, that if you enjoyed Marian Engel's _Bear_ (and most definitely the 2017 movie _The Shape of Water_ by Guillermo del Toro), you will also enjoy reading this book by Rachel Ingalls. The premise is quite similar, and it requires the same open-mindedness of its reader (even though I behold that open-mindedness as a given for any reader, rather than a prerequisite). If you prefer to take things all too literally or even at face value, you will not like this book one little bit.
And please, if you buy the same edition as I did, do skip the introduction by Irenosen Okojie. Not only is it spoiler-ridden, but Okojie also insists on labelling this novella as feminist, which is as fashionable as it is unnecessary. If you want to read up on Rachel Ingalls, I can recommend the 2019 article by Lidija Haas in The New Yorker, _Something in the Water_.
I can't wait to read more by Ingalls.
And please, if you buy the same edition as I did, do skip the introduction by Irenosen Okojie. Not only is it spoiler-ridden, but Okojie also insists on labelling this novella as feminist, which is as fashionable as it is unnecessary. If you want to read up on Rachel Ingalls, I can recommend the 2019 article by Lidija Haas in The New Yorker, _Something in the Water_.
I can't wait to read more by Ingalls.
chrisg's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
poorlywordedbookreviews's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥.
What a weird little book.
Its plot summary reads like something from the niche monster smut section - depressed, isolated housewife starts bonking a 6’7 frogman the moment he walks through her door - but mercifully only alludes to said inter species shenanigans. Instead it focuses more on Dorothy’s lonely, monotonous, grief ravaged life in suburbia, stuck with her cheating husband.
Stylistically it’s odd, the characters and dialogue are so unrealistic, yet often work - as the seem like perfectly condensed conversations, like someone used a shrink ray. It’s overall compulsively readable. However, I’m not satisfied with the ambiguity of the ending. It’s inconsistent in how it presents as realism vs delusion vs metaphor. Whichever it is it feels like it comments on many things but had no overall message itself unless I’m missing something?! Please educate me 😅 I think the last thing Estelle says should be the key?