wordsaremything's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
“I’m always happy,” Sasha said. “Sometimes I just forget.”
This book came highly recommended from a friend who knows I like storylines and characters that intersect with each other. (See: Station Eleven, How High We Go In the Dark, Cloud Atlas) The plots and characters in this book revolve around Bennie and Sasha, who flicker in and out of the stories like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. They're there, on the periphery, you just can't quite focus on them.
Though of Sasha and Bennie I found Sasha more interesting, I enjoyed Stephanie and La Doll's stories the most. I have no interest or experience in drugs or in the music scene, which made it difficult to fully enjoy most of the others' stories — Rob, Scotty, etc. But Sasha's opening chapter could have gone on another 50 pages — tell me more about her collection of items, of who belonged to what. I wish Sasha would have stolen an item from everyone in the novel, because in doing so, it reveals more about her, the most complicated of the bunch:
She didn’t want to explain to Coz the mix of feelings she’d had, standing there with Alex: the pride she took in these objects, a tenderness that was only heightened by the shame of their acquisition. She’d risked everything, and there was the result: the raw, warped core of her life.
Strangely, I have two quotes from Scotty's chapter. As a side note, I still don't understand why some of these were in first person and some weren't. There didn't seem to be rhyme or reason to it.
But if it was Bennie’s good luck I was getting that day, did that mean my good luck was also his good luck? That my visiting him unexpectedly was good luck for him? Or had I somehow managed to divert his luck and siphon it away for a time, leaving him without any luck that day? And if I had managed to do the latter, how had I done it, and (most important) how could I do it forever?
Power is like that; everyone feels it at once.
Scotty's story is mostly about power over another person, which I have been interested in as a concept recently, so in retrospect, I am unsurprised I marked these two passages down.
I marked the most in Stephanie's story, and sadly, everything from her chunk is about grief:
“Sure, everything is ending,” Jules said, “but not yet.”
Her only thought was getting away, as if she was carrying a live grenade from inside the house, so that when it exploded, it would destroy just herself.
She wanted to cry but she couldn’t. The feeling was too deep.
I was pleasantly surprised by the final two chapters: Alison's slides journal (which, what an innovative way to tell a story) and Alex's job with Bennie in the future. They showed us the most of the future Egan had dreamed up, and while I enjoy character studies and everyone's individual little lives, I always like to see, as if through a dirty window, the few ideas someone has about what tomorrow will look like.
“A feeling ... that we have some history together that hasn’t happened yet.”
I enjoyed this enough to read it quickly, but I think I will need to come back and read portions of it again to really love it. I enjoyed it, but something felt just... off for me. A high 3.5, which is why I rounded to 4.
This book came highly recommended from a friend who knows I like storylines and characters that intersect with each other. (See: Station Eleven, How High We Go In the Dark, Cloud Atlas) The plots and characters in this book revolve around Bennie and Sasha, who flicker in and out of the stories like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. They're there, on the periphery, you just can't quite focus on them.
Though of Sasha and Bennie I found Sasha more interesting, I enjoyed Stephanie and La Doll's stories the most. I have no interest or experience in drugs or in the music scene, which made it difficult to fully enjoy most of the others' stories — Rob, Scotty, etc. But Sasha's opening chapter could have gone on another 50 pages — tell me more about her collection of items, of who belonged to what. I wish Sasha would have stolen an item from everyone in the novel, because in doing so, it reveals more about her, the most complicated of the bunch:
She didn’t want to explain to Coz the mix of feelings she’d had, standing there with Alex: the pride she took in these objects, a tenderness that was only heightened by the shame of their acquisition. She’d risked everything, and there was the result: the raw, warped core of her life.
Strangely, I have two quotes from Scotty's chapter. As a side note, I still don't understand why some of these were in first person and some weren't. There didn't seem to be rhyme or reason to it.
But if it was Bennie’s good luck I was getting that day, did that mean my good luck was also his good luck? That my visiting him unexpectedly was good luck for him? Or had I somehow managed to divert his luck and siphon it away for a time, leaving him without any luck that day? And if I had managed to do the latter, how had I done it, and (most important) how could I do it forever?
Power is like that; everyone feels it at once.
Scotty's story is mostly about power over another person, which I have been interested in as a concept recently, so in retrospect, I am unsurprised I marked these two passages down.
I marked the most in Stephanie's story, and sadly, everything from her chunk is about grief:
“Sure, everything is ending,” Jules said, “but not yet.”
Her only thought was getting away, as if she was carrying a live grenade from inside the house, so that when it exploded, it would destroy just herself.
She wanted to cry but she couldn’t. The feeling was too deep.
I was pleasantly surprised by the final two chapters: Alison's slides journal (which, what an innovative way to tell a story) and Alex's job with Bennie in the future. They showed us the most of the future Egan had dreamed up, and while I enjoy character studies and everyone's individual little lives, I always like to see, as if through a dirty window, the few ideas someone has about what tomorrow will look like.
“A feeling ... that we have some history together that hasn’t happened yet.”
I enjoyed this enough to read it quickly, but I think I will need to come back and read portions of it again to really love it. I enjoyed it, but something felt just... off for me. A high 3.5, which is why I rounded to 4.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Cursing, and Drug use
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Homophobia, and Animal death
Minor: Toxic friendship and Infidelity
lucinotlucy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Injury/injury detail, and Mental illness
angel_kiiss's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship
jessreadsthings's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, and Self harm
Minor: Cancer, Suicide, Death, Cursing, Addiction, Grief, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
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