torgotorgo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
evanmc's review against another edition
4.0
This was quite the experience. I felt entrenched in the mind of our main character Elyria. Catherine Lacey very obviously understood this character to her core, and it shows on the page. It felt like a very authentic voice and I enjoyed the full range of emotions it made me feel. From depression, despondence, hopelessness, confusion, to dry wit, longing, simple joys and observations. There really is no plot here, so you have to be OK with framing the goal of the book as to understand Elyria through being in her head for 250 pages. The prose took some getting used to, but felt like a real internal monologue/stream of consciousness. It only got 'too clever for its own good' a few times in a MFA thesis fashion.
I felt unsatisfied with the ending because it just seemed to hang. I wasn't looking for plot resolution but I was expecting....something. It also seemed about 50 pages too long, which I attribute mostly to the difficulty to stay within the stylized prose for an extended period of time.
I felt unsatisfied with the ending because it just seemed to hang. I wasn't looking for plot resolution but I was expecting....something. It also seemed about 50 pages too long, which I attribute mostly to the difficulty to stay within the stylized prose for an extended period of time.
elishaslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
bluemoon_light's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
kevinclouther's review against another edition
5.0
This novel is sui generis. I've never read a protagonist like this, and she's presented in language that's completely original and alive.
jay9813's review against another edition
3.0
An enjoyable book, but the style got a little boring after a while.
lily5678's review against another edition
3.0
"...I didn't understand why everyone was laughing as if they'd never be dead..."
I'm finding it hard to review this one. The story is about Elyria, who is severely depressed and feels detached from the world and everyone in it, including herself. It's told as a stream-of-consciousness, and the sentences are incredibly long. Because of this style of narrating, we aren't told much about Elyria's past, and as she has zero plans for the future, we just follow her along as she wanders aimlessly around.
3 stars, because I didn't directly dislike it, but neither did I particularly like it. Elyria is stuck in a deep, dark pit of sorrow, and it is quite distressing to read about.
I'm finding it hard to review this one. The story is about Elyria, who is severely depressed and feels detached from the world and everyone in it, including herself. It's told as a stream-of-consciousness, and the sentences are incredibly long. Because of this style of narrating, we aren't told much about Elyria's past, and as she has zero plans for the future, we just follow her along as she wanders aimlessly around.
3 stars, because I didn't directly dislike it, but neither did I particularly like it. Elyria is stuck in a deep, dark pit of sorrow, and it is quite distressing to read about.
emilypolcyn's review against another edition
2.0
sad millennial ennui which is usually my jam but I fell asleep three times while trying to read this so I just gave up
abc_sunshine_823's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. It was pretty clear from the beginning that this wasn’t going to be my kinda novel, but I’m bad at leaving a book unfinished and I didn’t *hate* slogging my way through the rest of it (although I did start—and almost finish—another whole book in the meantime). I lost my page a couple times and had a hard time figuring out where I was because there aren’t any particularly memorable moments in the story. There is some nice prose—enough that I’d be willing to give the author another shot—but otherwise nothing in the book connected with me. I can usually find some amount of feeling for *some* character, but here I had no interest in what any of them were thinking or doing, particularly Elyria.
bevolk's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. The long-winded sentences from her unwinding mind was a little too real. We all have an unstable wildebeest in us. It was a memorable book to end the year.