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ed_moore's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Hval’s ‘Paradise Rot’ is a story of the sexual awakening of Jo, a Norwegian exchange student, after she finds a housemate in a converted brewery with little private space in it due to limited and paper thin walls.
It was quite an uncomfortable book. Hval’s use of description is extremely intimate and makes constant sexual innuendos, often making comparisons for the sake of description between things that really shouldn’t be and are quite uncomfortable, such as piss as warm milk for example. She really loved describing scenes of characters pissing for some reason…
There is connections made to Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ both in the title and frequent links to the Genesis story, though it wasn’t much of a retelling and instead just contained many food descriptions and a microcosm of rotting fruit throughout which was an interesting element at least. The space of the novel felt very liminal and uncomfortable, which is both down to its weird nature but also was contributed to by how awful the narration on the audiobook I read was. The narrator spoke so slowly with so little expression, it sounded a lot like an AI though I don’t believe this was the case.
I didn’t particularly find any of the characters that likeable, the male love interest/ antagonist Pym was a disgusting man who made every scene with his involvement a generally unpleasant experience. I don’t know what I expected from this book but it was just unsettling, and not in a god way, in addition to being full of questionable description.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
melodyseestrees's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, and Excrement
Moderate: Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Homophobia, Cannibalism, and Lesbophobia
theelizabethjoy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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
3.0
This was a difficult book for me to get through due to the body horror, descriptions of rot, multiple instances of someone pissing and the main character describing the sound and or smell and or feel of the urine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Sexual content
Further trigger warnings: urine, rotting food descriptions (both sight and smell)talin's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Moderate: Body horror and Sexual content
whatsemilyreadin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
gross!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, and Excrement
vavocado's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Sexual content
prickly_plant's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Excrement
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
gloom_lord's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-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? It's complicated
3.75
"But the apple was first, and it never stops rotting, it just gets blacker."
I'm skeptical of those who read this novel and only found "vibes" and piss contained therein. Yeah, it has those things in spades, but I want to give Paradise Rot more credit than that. I think it's fascinating how Hval's writing is able to wrest sensuality out of the abject, and with it construct its own contemporary fairytale. This book might as well be a rotting apple, a glistening mushroom, a colony of mold. That's what it felt like to me. Sentences became spores. At times, they entered my body without cognition, eliciting soft reveries with the fleshy interior backdrop of an eyelid.
It's not a "perfect" book, but I devoured it in two short sittings and I have not stopped thinking about it.
I'm skeptical of those who read this novel and only found "vibes" and piss contained therein. Yeah, it has those things in spades, but I want to give Paradise Rot more credit than that. I think it's fascinating how Hval's writing is able to wrest sensuality out of the abject, and with it construct its own contemporary fairytale. This book might as well be a rotting apple, a glistening mushroom, a colony of mold. That's what it felt like to me. Sentences became spores. At times, they entered my body without cognition, eliciting soft reveries with the fleshy interior backdrop of an eyelid.
It's not a "perfect" book, but I devoured it in two short sittings and I have not stopped thinking about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Sexual content
saint_eleanor's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
So bizarre and delicious
It almost reminded me of Mother! (The movie)
It almost reminded me of Mother! (The movie)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Excrement
lwilson43's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
What an odd little read... Hval takes this deceptively simple story about one woman's sexual awakening and creates an environment out of it, complete with all the nuances and complexities that come with it. But when the fungus takes hold, sometimes it can be a bitch and a half to tear it out, almost like it was tearing myself away from Hval's words!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship