1librarianspath's review against another edition
4.5
I’m not entirely sure what I just read. It was deliciously disorientating. Nothing happens, yet a lot seems to happen. I couldn’t put it down.
stitching_ghost's review
2.0
2.5 rounded down, to take with a grain of salt as I'm not keen on very framented stories with multiple narrators.
Fragmented and dreamlike. At times the writing was truly beautiful but mostly I felt it was trying to make me feel not smart enough to get it, maybe it's right, maybe I'm not smart enough to get it but with the causal fatphobia at the beginning I'm not so sure. Honestly considering how strong this book started I feel it's more likely that it ran out of steam early.
Fragmented and dreamlike. At times the writing was truly beautiful but mostly I felt it was trying to make me feel not smart enough to get it, maybe it's right, maybe I'm not smart enough to get it but with the causal fatphobia at the beginning I'm not so sure. Honestly considering how strong this book started I feel it's more likely that it ran out of steam early.
thelizzabee's review
4.0
3.5. This is a book that will stick with me for awhile. Some parts were beautiful and haunting. Elusive and poetic but almost too obscure. Other parts were too blatant and unnecessary. Then the end didn't pull it all together enough. It felt a little like a roller coaster of sorts and I didn't always have my balance. I love the line that Homer says to Owen "If you dedicate your life to writing novels, you're dedicating yourself to folding time." Perhaps intentionally, the characters were too fleeting for me.
kassabitte's review
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book is written in little vignettes that force you to actively read. Overall I really enjoyed the average process of reading this book. However, I think some of the themes that were being explored did not interest me, while others went over my head.
scholarhect's review against another edition
3.0
Started off strongly, but became increasingly more meandering with the introduction of Owen's point of view, and at about 3/4 through seemed to abandon any plot development or resolution whatsoever. A shame, as the beginning was both beautiful and captivating. Not by any means a bad read, but certainly not the finished product I expected at the halfway point.
charliej99's review against another edition
4.0
5 stars if the ending made a shred of sense. Really philosophical for a book that is shitting on a lot of philosophy and literariness - idk. Beautiful, though!
whatthekatdraggedin's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
rknuttel's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly, this is 2 1/2 stars for me, which I feel like is the lowest I've rated something in a while. I really wanted to like this, but it just didn't work for me. Maybe part of that comes from the fact that I listened to the audio? I'm not sure what the physical book is like, but with the audio it was very difficult to follow what was "real life" and what was the novel that the character was writing. And maybe that's the whole point of the story so it was supposed to be that way. I love a good dash of magical realism, but I found that I couldn't really settle in and enjoy the story because I was never sure what was happening and when and to who. That, combined with the fact that this wanted to be "literary" (which honestly I'm not sure I can totally define, but has something to do with being more about the language than the story and I know I don't like it), made it not really the book for me.
jenno's review against another edition
4.0
I thought about this and just saw Luiselli at an author talk in Stockholm. And as she talked about this book, I thought of how much of it had stuck to me and how I really don't need a plot to have a great reading experience.
Anyway, this was the first of her books I read and I have since read two more. I'll probably read another one before the year is over. So I do recommend it. It got under my skin.
Anyway, this was the first of her books I read and I have since read two more. I'll probably read another one before the year is over. So I do recommend it. It got under my skin.