wordsofclover's review
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
22-year-old Sophie has no idea what she's going to do next. She's graduated college and isn't having much luck with her job and living with her parents with no hope of ever moving out and affording rent let alone buying her own home in the future. When a large crack appears in the sky, Sophie's social media obsession becomes even worse as she juggles boys, friendships and a contentious relationship with her twin sister - and not to mention the ever looming presence of the crack and what it means for humanity.
This book is an interesting one. I feel like I loved it for all the different things it and the characters had to say about the world as it is right now - especially for young Irish people, but I can also see where in parts it was overdone and pretentious and how others wouldn't have gotten on with the book. I think it's very 'of the now' book - the social media obsession, the problems young people are facing as they leave college and can't get jobs, can't afford rent and already stress over ever owning a house, emigration and then all the normal things of body image, romance problems and friendships changing and evolving.
Sophie as a character is fairly complex. She is probably one of the most self-absorbed yet at the same time incredibly insecure characters I've ever followed and while that should bring on a certain amount of empathy, there were times I just didn't like Sophie and found her a little bit of w whingebag and also not a particularly good friend to Grace (MVP of this book in my opinion) and her other friend Dan who is struggling with loneliness after emigrating.
I think Sophie's relationship with social media is obviously one of the biggest things in the book, as well as the biggest relationship in the book as well as Sophie obsessively finds herself down rabbit holes on Twitter, listening to podcasts deep into the night and exploring conspiracy theories about the crack. People Sophie's age have grown up surrounded by social media and it's become like their right hand and without it they feel lost and it's often what they use to help them understand the world. I think with time and age, distance from social media becomes easier as real life takes over - relationships, jobs, responsibility but Sophie is not there yet and effectively, without a job, has all the time on the world to spend on her phone.
I actually really liked the presence of the crack in the sky and it's ever presence in the book, always in the background. In a way I wondered if it was a stand in for something like the pandemic, and if not, definitely inspired by it - and I think it was a brilliant way to show that when unexplainable, scary things happen, life still more or less goes on as normal. Worldwide pandemic? Life stopped for a while but a majority of everyday normal things happened and now the world is more or less back to the way it was. Ukrainian War? Everyone is still doing their day-to-day activities albeit with a heavier cost of living situation but parties, romance, school and life is still happening every day.
I think this book is clever, and while I would have liked maybe a couple less conversations about capitalism (listen you talk about capitalism, you'll get compared to Sally Rooney and that's that), I think the author understand the mind of a twenty-something very well and all the fears and insecurities people can have when they're young and life still feels very unknown and scary.
This book is an interesting one. I feel like I loved it for all the different things it and the characters had to say about the world as it is right now - especially for young Irish people, but I can also see where in parts it was overdone and pretentious and how others wouldn't have gotten on with the book. I think it's very 'of the now' book - the social media obsession, the problems young people are facing as they leave college and can't get jobs, can't afford rent and already stress over ever owning a house, emigration and then all the normal things of body image, romance problems and friendships changing and evolving.
Sophie as a character is fairly complex. She is probably one of the most self-absorbed yet at the same time incredibly insecure characters I've ever followed and while that should bring on a certain amount of empathy, there were times I just didn't like Sophie and found her a little bit of w whingebag and also not a particularly good friend to Grace (MVP of this book in my opinion) and her other friend Dan who is struggling with loneliness after emigrating.
I think Sophie's relationship with social media is obviously one of the biggest things in the book, as well as the biggest relationship in the book as well as Sophie obsessively finds herself down rabbit holes on Twitter, listening to podcasts deep into the night and exploring conspiracy theories about the crack. People Sophie's age have grown up surrounded by social media and it's become like their right hand and without it they feel lost and it's often what they use to help them understand the world. I think with time and age, distance from social media becomes easier as real life takes over - relationships, jobs, responsibility but Sophie is not there yet and effectively, without a job, has all the time on the world to spend on her phone.
I actually really liked the presence of the crack in the sky and it's ever presence in the book, always in the background. In a way I wondered if it was a stand in for something like the pandemic, and if not, definitely inspired by it - and I think it was a brilliant way to show that when unexplainable, scary things happen, life still more or less goes on as normal. Worldwide pandemic? Life stopped for a while but a majority of everyday normal things happened and now the world is more or less back to the way it was. Ukrainian War? Everyone is still doing their day-to-day activities albeit with a heavier cost of living situation but parties, romance, school and life is still happening every day.
I think this book is clever, and while I would have liked maybe a couple less conversations about capitalism (listen you talk about capitalism, you'll get compared to Sally Rooney and that's that), I think the author understand the mind of a twenty-something very well and all the fears and insecurities people can have when they're young and life still feels very unknown and scary.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Abortion
cindeeduong's review
emotional
reflective
sad
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Vomit
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence
Minor: Eating disorder
whatkathrynreads_'s review
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Sexual assault
theothersideofreading's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Vomit, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, and Toxic friendship
travelseatsreads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I was in two minds about picking this up after seeing it being compared to Normal People & Snowflake. I'm not a Sally Rooney (Prasifka’s sister-in-law by the way) fan in any form so was going to avoid it but then Snowflake was one of my top reads of 2021. So when I saw it as an audiobook I said what have I got to lose?
I was a bit too optimistic because while there was some really good interesting lines which really caught my attention, overall the majority of the time I was left rolling my eyes, clinging to the hope that this is not what your average 20something Trinity graduates are actually like.
So for some balance;
What I Liked?
• The portrayal of the consuming & suffocating nature of social media was terrifyingly accurate. Prasifka spoke about closing out of Instagram after scrolling for hours & your thumb automatically reaching back for the app & I was shook, I do that, all of the damn time!
• Observations about the role of the Catholic Church are extremely well executed & so relevant at the moment considering the NMH crisis.
• The crack & it's varied impact on people was really well done. Especially post-covid after seeing people going from panic buying hysteria to almost forgetting it exists.
• There are many beautiful quotes which stand out as poignant commentary on society which would make me want to come back to Prasifka's writing at another time of her life.
What I Didn't Like?
• The book reeks of upper-class white cis-gender female privilege & it isn't a pretty smell.
• Flippant references to things such as the famine come across as distasteful & quite irrelevant.
• The book tries to be feminist forward yet in total contradiction has the protagonist crawling after guys who are horrifically & quite obviously manipulative.
• The injustice of portraying females as these whiney, insecure naval gazing beings who can't function properly without male attention (negative or positive).
Overall, it's an interesting book which some will absolutely devour & completely identify with but for me it just missed the mark. Insightful & poignant at times yet also repetitive & draining.
If you've read it let me know your thoughts!
I was a bit too optimistic because while there was some really good interesting lines which really caught my attention, overall the majority of the time I was left rolling my eyes, clinging to the hope that this is not what your average 20something Trinity graduates are actually like.
So for some balance;
What I Liked?
• The portrayal of the consuming & suffocating nature of social media was terrifyingly accurate. Prasifka spoke about closing out of Instagram after scrolling for hours & your thumb automatically reaching back for the app & I was shook, I do that, all of the damn time!
• Observations about the role of the Catholic Church are extremely well executed & so relevant at the moment considering the NMH crisis.
• The crack & it's varied impact on people was really well done. Especially post-covid after seeing people going from panic buying hysteria to almost forgetting it exists.
• There are many beautiful quotes which stand out as poignant commentary on society which would make me want to come back to Prasifka's writing at another time of her life.
What I Didn't Like?
• The book reeks of upper-class white cis-gender female privilege & it isn't a pretty smell.
• Flippant references to things such as the famine come across as distasteful & quite irrelevant.
• The book tries to be feminist forward yet in total contradiction has the protagonist crawling after guys who are horrifically & quite obviously manipulative.
• The injustice of portraying females as these whiney, insecure naval gazing beings who can't function properly without male attention (negative or positive).
Overall, it's an interesting book which some will absolutely devour & completely identify with but for me it just missed the mark. Insightful & poignant at times yet also repetitive & draining.
If you've read it let me know your thoughts!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexism, Alcohol, Body shaming, and Eating disorder
northernlitreading's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
i related to the mc’s internal beliefs so much and i wonder if other people find her and thus me and irritating character… there were so many lightbulb “i’ve thought the exact same thing” moments. the whole crack thing was a little confusing, i get it showed uncertainty but it didn’t seem like there was much point to it - maybe that was the point. at times it did feel like a wannabe self help book, took me out of the book everytime but jesus if she wasn’t out through the ringer, everything that happened is so so awful and yet it’s so common and realistic. makes me want to psychoanalyse the entire book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Blood, Eating disorder, and Injury/injury detail
frantear's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, and Vomit
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