rvlgonzalez's review against another edition
5.0
This book has no answers. But, it does provide you information in the way you'd experience it in life, with enough room for you to think about how it all connects together, but with no one confirming whether you're right or not. At times you get more information than you'd want/need, but more often, you get less. Which again feels like life. A great thing about that 'feels like life quality' is that it deals with topics that are very much out of the norm: celebrity, sci-fi-like emotion effectors, off-the-grid manifesto-writing religious fundamentalists, near-supernatural healing treatments. I am pretty glad I read this book.
khadijaheatswords's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
In her unconventional approach to the mystery of love and relationships, Catherine Lacey writes a kind of spiritual descendant of the Stepford Wives. The main character is frustratingly and endearingly passive, often finding life happening to her.
A star lost for part 2 of the book which shifts from a first person to a third person omniscient narrator. Too much time is spent on the inner loves of characters we will never see again and who do little to serve the story.
A star lost for part 2 of the book which shifts from a first person to a third person omniscient narrator. Too much time is spent on the inner loves of characters we will never see again and who do little to serve the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, and Sexual violence
Minor: Blood
mgalvan's review against another edition
Reading this book is like sitting in a cafe you don't belong in and giving everyone a fake smile while you think of a more grungy place to exist in because it would feel 100x more real to you.
her10d's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
foggy_rosamund's review against another edition
3.0
This is Lacey's first novel, which I read shortly after her most recent, Biography of X. It's very interesting to see how a writer's preoccupations can remain the same, while the way they handle them is quite different. Like in Biography of X, Lacey is interested in surveillance, manufactured emotion, and how a traumatic childhood informs the present. In this case, the story is about Mary Parsons, a woman whose parents brought her up entirely cut off from wider society, living off the land, and Kurt Sky, a film-maker and film-star. Mary ends up in an experiment as one of Kurt Sky's many paid girlfriends, inhabiting a particular role and doing a particular set of duties. Mary's lack of a sense of self, and Kurt's extreme self-obsession are put in extreme tension with one another. I enjoyed reading this, but I was frustrated that some threads in it seemed to be neglected or forgotten. Also, the denouement in this is very similar to the ending of Biography of X, and in both cases I think it's the weakest part of the book. I enjoyed reading this, and I would read more by Lacey, but it is a flawed work.
julsreadinglist's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape
neecole's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
starness's review against another edition
4.0
A much more intense read then expected, my own senses were heightened throughout, keeping me deep in contemplation and it definitely got my brain ticking.
What this book reiterates is that the human condition is deeply complex. Love in particular something so hard to dissect, interestingly within the social experiment in this book it’s clear that it’s almost impossible to analyse or characterise. This book is definitely about ideas and challenging social conventions.
This is a difficult book to review due to it’s complex premise and a quick summary could even turn off a few readers as it almost put me off initially. I don’t imagine this book would work for everyone unless your a particular fan of speculative fiction. I wasn’t sure I would end up liking this book as much as I did and credit the author for her insightful writing her ability to get deep inside her protagonist thoughts and deliver a compelling, strange but ultimately very interesting story with a fitting ending, this book was completely mesmerising.
What this book reiterates is that the human condition is deeply complex. Love in particular something so hard to dissect, interestingly within the social experiment in this book it’s clear that it’s almost impossible to analyse or characterise. This book is definitely about ideas and challenging social conventions.
This is a difficult book to review due to it’s complex premise and a quick summary could even turn off a few readers as it almost put me off initially. I don’t imagine this book would work for everyone unless your a particular fan of speculative fiction. I wasn’t sure I would end up liking this book as much as I did and credit the author for her insightful writing her ability to get deep inside her protagonist thoughts and deliver a compelling, strange but ultimately very interesting story with a fitting ending, this book was completely mesmerising.
erikaslibros's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0