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tara3117's review against another edition
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Like everyone here, I was pulled to this book by the title. It was nominated for a ton of awards.
Nothing that happens in this book is good. The people aren't good. Any of them. Maybe Theo, but he's so minor. He's probably a good guy. The narrator is absolute garbage when faced with any type of possibility. We have no idea where she gets money from. Book royalties maybe? I don't know. None of this woman's lifestyle makes any sense to me. The tag is that it's about "one woman's reckoning with marriage, work, sex, and motherhood." But she doesn't reckon with anything. She literally walks away from all of it except sex. There is no reckoning. She doesn't even make decisions with any kind of forethought whatsoever. She's a trainwreck and I feel misled.
There is so much borrowing from her parents' stories. She spends way too long retelling her dad's story, which isn't relevant at all except that it's salatious and mostly true. She spends too long retelling her mom's letter chronologically backwards, so when people pop up later, you vaguely remember that they end up being garbage later on, but when she's 11, they're cute. The only thing the letters serve is to set the scene of how messed up Claire is because her mom is. If anything, this book is about generational trauma, drugs and sex and not about marriage, work or motherhood at all. All of the back story basically tells you that this girl's trauma (of having a dead dad and a poor, drug-addicted mom) is what makes her interesting.
However, the writing is really good. The dialogue is pretty and realistic. The descriptions are beautiful. So that's where it's unfortunate. The author can write a fantastic sentence. She cannot write a story.
Nothing that happens in this book is good. The people aren't good. Any of them. Maybe Theo, but he's so minor. He's probably a good guy. The narrator is absolute garbage when faced with any type of possibility. We have no idea where she gets money from. Book royalties maybe? I don't know. None of this woman's lifestyle makes any sense to me. The tag is that it's about "one woman's reckoning with marriage, work, sex, and motherhood." But she doesn't reckon with anything. She literally walks away from all of it except sex. There is no reckoning. She doesn't even make decisions with any kind of forethought whatsoever. She's a trainwreck and I feel misled.
There is so much borrowing from her parents' stories. She spends way too long retelling her dad's story, which isn't relevant at all except that it's salatious and mostly true. She spends too long retelling her mom's letter chronologically backwards, so when people pop up later, you vaguely remember that they end up being garbage later on, but when she's 11, they're cute. The only thing the letters serve is to set the scene of how messed up Claire is because her mom is. If anything, this book is about generational trauma, drugs and sex and not about marriage, work or motherhood at all. All of the back story basically tells you that this girl's trauma (of having a dead dad and a poor, drug-addicted mom) is what makes her interesting.
However, the writing is really good. The dialogue is pretty and realistic. The descriptions are beautiful. So that's where it's unfortunate. The author can write a fantastic sentence. She cannot write a story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, and Abandonment
ashlurtis's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Oof, this was rough. I still don't know why I didn't DNF this book honestly. For some reason, I thought I really liked this author, but now I'm second guessing how I felt after reading "Gold Fame Citrus." Possibly and probably, the same as I felt while reading this. The writing is like... good, sharp, smart, but the story is BLAH.
I read this for a "semi-autobiographical" challenge at my local library and was constantly feeling weirded out about how the author and main character share the same name among other characteristics. Also, every character in this story, including and especially the main character, is super icky. There might be an appropriate audience for this book, and I am definitely not it, nor can I conceive of who would be.
The narrative switches between the main character's very unreliable point of view and these random letters from a character I wasn't even sure the identity of until near the end of the book. I am assuming there are a lot of heavy and raw emotions that went into the writing of this book and that for some people it might be very cathartic to read, but not for this young-ish Midwestern mom who loves her family...
The content is just as icky as the characters and I kind of felt like I needed to take a really hot shower to wash this book off me. Probably will not be seeking out more work from this author.
I read this for a "semi-autobiographical" challenge at my local library and was constantly feeling weirded out about how the author and main character share the same name among other characteristics. Also, every character in this story, including and especially the main character, is super icky. There might be an appropriate audience for this book, and I am definitely not it, nor can I conceive of who would be.
The narrative switches between the main character's very unreliable point of view and these random letters from a character I wasn't even sure the identity of until near the end of the book. I am assuming there are a lot of heavy and raw emotions that went into the writing of this book and that for some people it might be very cathartic to read, but not for this young-ish Midwestern mom who loves her family...
The content is just as icky as the characters and I kind of felt like I needed to take a really hot shower to wash this book off me. Probably will not be seeking out more work from this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual violence, and Abandonment
Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent
Minor: Abortion
generalalarm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-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
4.75
This novel is auto-fiction, reading a lot like a memoir. It's a first-person narration of a depressed, self-destructive woman's flight from her husband and newborn daughter. The novel explores her family history through letters her mother wrote and a chapter on her father's time in the Manson family cult. The book contrasts the poverty, addiction, and tragedy with which she grew up, with her own discomfort and unhappiness in her privileged life. The prose is somehow both pared back and straight to the point while making gorgeous use of lush words and highly specific descriptions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Minor: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault
whimsylindsey's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Suicide, and Abandonment
teresareads's review against another edition
I loved the weirdness of the beginning, but it gets tedious fast. The Manson section is hard to follow, and I got bogged down there. And, although I can appreciate the value of messy women telling their stories, these stories seem to be dominating literary fiction today, and I'm kind of bored with them. And the meandering nature of this narrative doesn't help much. There's nothing here, aside from the title, to keep me engaged.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse
Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment
Minor: Suicide