bookspluscaffeine's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
brigidjohanna's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating. A beautiful addition to an ongoing and important conversation. Definitely a book I will re read
amberlx's review against another edition
3.0
I am conflicted - I really enjoy Reid's prose and the way she writes is super engaging - albeit she does repeat the word 'edified' many many times but at least I've learned a new word? It was interesting to be able to read about a college experience that was similar to how I have found my first year - especially the discussion around the shallow 'scripts' we follow to establish connections with people ie. 'how'd you pull up after last night'... 'bit dusty'..'yeah same.' I was confused at the author's attitude towards the SA situation discussed, and I found the discussion around the professor/student relationship power dynamic lacking. Happy I read it, probably wouldn't read again.
aseel_reads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
I was really not vibing with the start of this book, but it because it was super easy to read, I just kept going and before I knew it, I was very invested in the story. I liked the character arcs we saw and where the plot went
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Sexism, Alcohol, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Classism, Misogyny, Death, Rape, and Sexual assault
grace_9613's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Eh. It just felt very ‘high school’. The romanticising of the teacher/student relationship was a bit ick. There were so many good themes presented but the exploration of them was so superficial. I just think I wasn’t the target audience, despite being a university student myself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault and Car accident
fiawicks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
4.25
fantine's review against another edition
4.0
‘Are you a good person, or do you just look like one?’
This debut stunned me in every way.
Set at an elite college situated in a Sydney university, scholarship student Michaela arrives from Canberra and is plunged headfirst into the culture of private institutions - these colleges, a tertiary continuation of the private high schools with roots in the church, are similarly segregated by gender and tax bracket. The novel begins as O week festivities commence; a hazy period where teenagers are plied with alcohol at university sanctioned events that are, from the outside, an obvious breeding ground for abuse of power.
It is during these festivities where an encounter not hard to imagine becomes a catalyst for a chain of events the memories of which unravel in an effectively non-linear way. In less capable hands the plot may have been predictable or relied on twists but the structure is honestly masterful, every page somehow altering the last as we, with Michaela, desperately seek clarity; on her relationship with a much older professor, the sudden and complicated death of a friend, and just what transpired that blurry night in O week. The writing was a physical experience, my heart often skipping a beat as each paragraph built tension so palpable I had to physically put the book down and walk around multiple times.
At the core of this novel is Michaela’s relationship with fellow student Eve.
Eve might be one of my favourite literary characters in recent memory, not because I love or even like her, but because I know her.
Native to Sydney Eve wears her politics as an identity and a challenge, intrigued and intimidated Michaela is drawn to this charismatic and unapologetically outspoken figure and the two begin a relationship that quickly turns toxic; equal parts rivalry, jealousy and attraction.
Eve’s insidiousness lies in her intellect, her ability to eloquently invoke theoretical critiques of class, race, gender and institution whilst artfully excluding her own position of privilege.
‘Eve was the first person I’d met who invoked political theories to justify her personal choices. She was also, more so than anyone I’d ever met, perfectly sure of those choices. I found it hard to imagine her as a product of a larger system, her actions originating from anywhere but herself’
Thin, white, and wealthy Eve’s scholarship is almost an accessory, her car a piece of shit (that she owns), her job as a tutor reliant on connections (and not taxed), and holidays to Europe to eastern europe (everyone knows east is grittier than west). Eve’s position is one of power but it is also an inevitably aspirational one, as Michaela despite her efforts does care what others think, how her actions will affect them and her yearning for acceptance makes her malleable to Eve whose moral outrage is a privilege not afforded to those she claims to champion. Her choice to live rent free in a dorm on her scholarship is as easy as leaving in a dramatic performance of revolt; for Michaela the scholarship means a place to live ‘but at what cost?’ Eve asks her in a perfect display of class privilege.
Whilst exploring the larger themes of class and patriarchy it is in the details, the shades of grey that this novel shines. Performative activism and appropriation of the personal to further the political are difficult and complex themes but this novel does not shy away from the messiness. The writing is raw and unflinchingly blunt but not without a self-deprecating wit, no sentence meaningless and if first appearing so would often become clear in a satisfying pay off.
This debut stunned me in every way.
Set at an elite college situated in a Sydney university, scholarship student Michaela arrives from Canberra and is plunged headfirst into the culture of private institutions - these colleges, a tertiary continuation of the private high schools with roots in the church, are similarly segregated by gender and tax bracket. The novel begins as O week festivities commence; a hazy period where teenagers are plied with alcohol at university sanctioned events that are, from the outside, an obvious breeding ground for abuse of power.
It is during these festivities where an encounter not hard to imagine becomes a catalyst for a chain of events the memories of which unravel in an effectively non-linear way. In less capable hands the plot may have been predictable or relied on twists but the structure is honestly masterful, every page somehow altering the last as we, with Michaela, desperately seek clarity; on her relationship with a much older professor, the sudden and complicated death of a friend, and just what transpired that blurry night in O week. The writing was a physical experience, my heart often skipping a beat as each paragraph built tension so palpable I had to physically put the book down and walk around multiple times.
At the core of this novel is Michaela’s relationship with fellow student Eve.
Eve might be one of my favourite literary characters in recent memory, not because I love or even like her, but because I know her.
Native to Sydney Eve wears her politics as an identity and a challenge, intrigued and intimidated Michaela is drawn to this charismatic and unapologetically outspoken figure and the two begin a relationship that quickly turns toxic; equal parts rivalry, jealousy and attraction.
Eve’s insidiousness lies in her intellect, her ability to eloquently invoke theoretical critiques of class, race, gender and institution whilst artfully excluding her own position of privilege.
‘Eve was the first person I’d met who invoked political theories to justify her personal choices. She was also, more so than anyone I’d ever met, perfectly sure of those choices. I found it hard to imagine her as a product of a larger system, her actions originating from anywhere but herself’
Thin, white, and wealthy Eve’s scholarship is almost an accessory, her car a piece of shit (that she owns), her job as a tutor reliant on connections (and not taxed), and holidays to Europe to eastern europe (everyone knows east is grittier than west). Eve’s position is one of power but it is also an inevitably aspirational one, as Michaela despite her efforts does care what others think, how her actions will affect them and her yearning for acceptance makes her malleable to Eve whose moral outrage is a privilege not afforded to those she claims to champion. Her choice to live rent free in a dorm on her scholarship is as easy as leaving in a dramatic performance of revolt; for Michaela the scholarship means a place to live ‘but at what cost?’ Eve asks her in a perfect display of class privilege.
Whilst exploring the larger themes of class and patriarchy it is in the details, the shades of grey that this novel shines. Performative activism and appropriation of the personal to further the political are difficult and complex themes but this novel does not shy away from the messiness. The writing is raw and unflinchingly blunt but not without a self-deprecating wit, no sentence meaningless and if first appearing so would often become clear in a satisfying pay off.
elireadsbook's review against another edition
challenging
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? Yes
4.0
avrilhj's review against another edition
4.0
I definitely struggle with first-person narratives when I don’t like the narrator. Does this make me a facile reader, that I need the protagonist to be someone with whom I empathise? Anyway, almost everyone in this book about class, sex and power at university colleges is unpleasant, although since the narrator is only 18 when the events take place we can hope that she improves as she grows up. No such excuse for the lecturer who sleeps with her. Alcohol, sex, and university colleges. Ugh. I spent four years of my life trying to help university students not be so badly damaged by them. Well-written, topical, made me want to smack the characters’ heads together.
kinta's review against another edition
5.0
an amazing novel that i will now never stop recommending. set in modern-day sydney at a prestigious college, scholarship recipient and canberra local, Michaela, dives headfirst into a world of privilege and toxic culture. a story written with such prose and natural dialogue - i could not put this down.
a hazy event unfolds during o-week and serves as a foundation for later complications in Michaela’s morals and relationships. not long after settling into college life, Michaela meets self-righteous Eve, a fellow scholarship student who lives in the room adjacent to her. Born and raised in Sydney, Eve is as privileged as they come, and her scholarship is of little value to her existence; merely disposable to her. Eve wears her political views as a badge of honour and is (what i perceive to be) a ‘performative’ activist. The author has created such a well known character with Eve, because we all know or have had a friend similar her.
this book will definitely be loved by philosophy bros. the author poses many fundamental questions like what it means to love, what it means to betray, and the blurred lines of consent. Diana Reid has truely executed a beautifully written novel that i hope to one day reread.
a hazy event unfolds during o-week and serves as a foundation for later complications in Michaela’s morals and relationships. not long after settling into college life, Michaela meets self-righteous Eve, a fellow scholarship student who lives in the room adjacent to her. Born and raised in Sydney, Eve is as privileged as they come, and her scholarship is of little value to her existence; merely disposable to her. Eve wears her political views as a badge of honour and is (what i perceive to be) a ‘performative’ activist. The author has created such a well known character with Eve, because we all know or have had a friend similar her.
this book will definitely be loved by philosophy bros. the author poses many fundamental questions like what it means to love, what it means to betray, and the blurred lines of consent. Diana Reid has truely executed a beautifully written novel that i hope to one day reread.