Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval

24 reviews

mayacydney's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

Lots of pissing.
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librarymouse's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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

3.75

Similar to her later book Girls Against God, Jenny Hval's Paradise Rot queers the human body through its association with decay, excrement, and bodily fluids. The whole book reads as a fever dream and ends with Jo having moved out, struggling to remember the details of Carral, rotting and sick from their shared apartment. Time moves slowly in the narrative, but the passing of time is denoted by the rotting of the apples that their relationship was predicated on. The thread of Carral's com-het, and the consistent creepiness of their writer neighbor managed to sustain the majority of the dread in the novel, whereas the anachronistic mushrooms and the motif of rot served as an addition of surrealism. Aspects of the novel are frustratingly relatable as a renter with landlords who don't take care of mold problems. As a librarian, Carral's desecration and theft of a library book are more frustrating than markers of the illicit.
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tayaingrid's review

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dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated
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pheebabeeba_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

The book follows the protagonist, Djåoanna, AKA Jo, a Norwegian transfer student starting her first year in University to study Biology. In need of housing, she meets a young woman named Carral, who offers her lodging in an apartment, refurnished from an old brewery. Jo quickly notices the apartment seems alive and breathing. Jo also starts to develop an obsession for her new roommate, Carral. 

This book is definitely a silent horror, left much to the description of Jo’s thoughts. That element makes Jo, the protagonist rather sinister herself. These thoughts tend to often be her own fascinations and perversions. Her thoughts feel almost intrusive in nature. 

The horror is the kind that builds up slowly, from brief descriptions to a far deeper experience (the horror was a bit too slow to my liking). I found this book very descriptive and imaginative. I enjoyed a lot of the visuals the book gave, especially at the start of the book. It’s what drew me to continue further.

The ending was perhaps a bit anticlimactic but I would say overall this was an interesting read.

(Here is a fair warning to anyone who considers reading this book: There’s quite a lot of descriptions of piss. Urine is a frequent source of interest in this novel. If you don’t care for all of that, I cannot recommend this. Fortunately, I wasn’t too bothered by it.) 
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melodyseestrees's review against another edition

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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

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floorsalad's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Beautifully written. Read it in two days.
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placeholder13's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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deanchaudhri's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious slow-paced

3.0

the main characters rly took the phrase “go piss girl” to a whole other level and that is all i will say on that. maybe this was a bit too abstract for me or maybe i just needed to be on psychadelics to rly grasp it. if u like queer surrealism horror-ish stuff (with lots of biology references) u may like this !
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f18's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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

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ashlynregan's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book is a short read akin to if Richard Papen lived in the artist’s warehouse in The Secret History for the whole novel.
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