Reviews

Boca Raton, by Lauren Groff

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I really liked this short story about climate change. The writing was *chef's kiss.* I think I need to try some of the author's other books (I had...mixed feelings about Fates and Furies, but maybe I need to revisit that also).

kpearlman's review

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dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

3.0

ahyshia's review

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sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

mistylyn's review

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2.0

Five gold stars for this author’s obvious ability to write. Subtract one of said stars for my own inability to “get it” (unfair, but damnit it’s my review). And then there were four. Take away another because, as I may have mentioned I DONT GET IT! I’m sure there’s an extended metaphor lurking behind the ambiguity, but I’ll be damned if I can find it....and I mean, really, I was always a prize “Where’s Waldo” competitor. That leaves us with three lovely, tin stars dipped in cheap gold plate, representing the promise of at least a plausible plot at the hands of a capable author. Nope...and it’s here that I offer a brief summary: woman is clearly aware of the effects of global warming; woman overreacts to a certainly sad but not life-altering event; woman goes mad leaving her young daughter parentless. Yep, another star shoots through the sky and blinks out unceremoniously, it’s death long past by the time we realize the light has been extinguished. Had I been able to predict that this particular crash and burn was on the horizon I would have given up trying to finish this thankfully short piece of tomfoolery. I’ll leave it at two rather tiny brassy stars, because, seriously, there’s talent here, even it it’s buried under a monolith constructed of ridiculous characters, an absurd plot and an overuse of tone in an attempt to create a sense of desperation. See? The melodrama must have been contagious.

shanaqui's review

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challenging reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

I really liked this, actually. There's something genuinely uneasy and creepy about it; it was a surprisingly unsettling start to my morning.

bleonard's review

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5.0

I was surprised by this one. Like "The Way The World Ends," it's set in the present day, or close enough to it, but Groff takes an almost entirely interior approach to the story, focusing on one protagonist and their inner thoughts. The tension here builds wonderfully, with Groff's haunting prose employed very effectively. It doesn't end the way you'd think, and I liked the connection to past visions of apocalypse/apocalyptic cults. Thematically, it was very evocative of Paul Kingsnorth and the concept of "uncivilization," or finding out how to mourn for a world that has already been lost. I recommend it.

bookloversboudoir's review

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4.0

https://thebookloversboudoir.wordpress.com/2018/11/12/boca-raton-by-legroff/

I enjoyed this much more than the first story in the Warmer series. Boca Raton is very bleak and hard to read at times because of this. Like, The Way the World Ends the links to climate change are almost invisible. What makes this story work is the way Groff made me really care for Ange. She’s driven to the brink of paranoid madness by something many people would barely register, dead chicks, killed by swallowing plastic, presumably fed to them by their mother. This unhinges her mind and she starts to see sinister connotations everywhere. Her terror of what the future could hold and how this could affect her daughter is almost too realistic. Boca Raton is a great disturbing read.