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plantbot's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
plurellity's review
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
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
4.5
chwinters's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
my exact brand of literary fiction i fear
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
kyfaha's review
funny
reflective
slow-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? No
3.5
abigaelf's review
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
brdwilliams's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
arockinsamsara's review
5.0
There is something mystifying about McElroy’s prose. They have mastered a technique where everything seems almost clinical, in the way it is tight, observational, and doesn’t suffer any frills, and yet at the same time feels explosive, like it is only through a study of minimalism that we can contain the chaos of reality. Here and there we have these bright flashes of color, disorienting for the reader and the characters, but those eruptions are usually more felt as potentiality than realization, and there is something compelling about that. There are rich, complicated characters at the heart of this story, yet we only experience them at a remove, since they don’t know how to experience themselves. There is a plot, of sorts, but the events that happen are not as important as how they are experienced and reacted to.
I never felt drawn into this narrative, like I wanted to be there. Instead, it felt like a mirror, showing me might lay beneath the psycho-emotional masks most of us wear. The novel forces us to reckon with the fact that there is a vast gulf between the way we know ourselves and the wat others experience us—and, similarly, between our experiences/interpretations/judgments of others and the ways they understand themselves to be in the world. This limen, straddling perception and reality, or, really, multiple perceptions and multiple realities, seems to be somewhere we are frightened to dwell, confident in the validity of our perceptions. It might take dwelling in another’s body to learn something new about ourselves, something everyone else already knows. McElroy invites us to explore what that intimacy might look like, when identities can be recognized as contingent and fluid, and when we can find the compassion to make space to hold each other’s mysteries.
I want to thank the author, the publisher, Harper Collins, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I never felt drawn into this narrative, like I wanted to be there. Instead, it felt like a mirror, showing me might lay beneath the psycho-emotional masks most of us wear. The novel forces us to reckon with the fact that there is a vast gulf between the way we know ourselves and the wat others experience us—and, similarly, between our experiences/interpretations/judgments of others and the ways they understand themselves to be in the world. This limen, straddling perception and reality, or, really, multiple perceptions and multiple realities, seems to be somewhere we are frightened to dwell, confident in the validity of our perceptions. It might take dwelling in another’s body to learn something new about ourselves, something everyone else already knows. McElroy invites us to explore what that intimacy might look like, when identities can be recognized as contingent and fluid, and when we can find the compassion to make space to hold each other’s mysteries.
I want to thank the author, the publisher, Harper Collins, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
xtinevs's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? Yes
4.0
galley_hag's review
4.0
I love a body swap story and this one breaks all the rules and plays around with tropes and gender. McElroy’s exploration of fluidities of gender, identity, and perspective are thought provoking and lovely.