snowbenton's review against another edition
4.0
Lockwood shines such a bright light on our disturbing internet existence that I very nearly filed this under "dystopian" and "magical realism," to boot.
Lockwood's internet presence will always have a special place in my heart for her interactions with her cat, Miette, but this book simultaneously makes the reader want to achieve internet fame, however fleeting, and also never go on social media again.
Also, this book is very fucking sad.
Lockwood's internet presence will always have a special place in my heart for her interactions with her cat, Miette, but this book simultaneously makes the reader want to achieve internet fame, however fleeting, and also never go on social media again.
Also, this book is very fucking sad.
pdestrienne's review
funny
sad
fast-paced
3.5
Not how most authors would write a story but made sense from a poet/internet humorist writing a novel. Beautiful and disjointed, profane and a little queasy, honest in a TMI way. A really precise description of what the internet can do to our selves.
bibliolucinda's review against another edition
4.0
“Modern womanhood was more about rubbing snail mucus on your face than she had thought it would be. But it had always been something, hadn’t it? Taking drops of arsenic. Winding bandages around the feet. Polishing your teeth with lead. It was so easy to believe you freely chose the paints, polishes, and waist-trainers of your own time, while looking back with tremendous pity to women of the past in their whalebones; that you took the longest strides your body was capable of, while women of the past limped forward on broken arches.”
benttravers's review
5.0
Astounding not only in her understanding of language as a shared, communally established touchstone — evocative of specific associations in isolation and wholly new ideas when combined — but also in structure and storytelling. You can sense and appreciate the connection to “the portal” as clearly as you can its absence. Just incredible writing, shaping an indelible experience.
kbarrow's review
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
llamaking's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0