kkachnowski's review against another edition
3.0
This is quite possibly the strangest love story I have ever read. I have to commend the author here because she’s quite talented; somehow I hated both protagonists but was still very invested in the book. The figurative language is very strong as well.
agmaynard's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-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
4.75
Brilliant! Matched by the awesome narration of Will Damron and Julia Whelan, each about half the book. A portrait of a marriage, a loving though difficult one, with chill outdoing warmth most often. Layers are peeled back, perspectives shift in the course of almost 24 years of their partnership, and glimpses of the rest of Matilda’s life on her own. The dips in the past and future are beautifully managed. Not an easy journey but a worthwhile one.
shereadsshedrinks's review against another edition
4.0
Another beautiful book with horribly unlikeable protagonists. Why do I do this to myself?!
jazzypizzaz's review against another edition
4.0
I love the storytelling structure of this book and how it revealed certain truths about the characters in unexpected ways. Relationships are about separate people coming together to share themselves with each other, but there will still remain large "white spaces" of each that remain hidden, perhaps even to the individual. Upon finishing the book I immediately wanted to read through the book again, putting each vignette in chronological order to join the two halves for a "complete" story; of course it would not have been effective in its narrative if it was like this to begin with.
I did find myself rolling my eyes often at the wiring style in the first half, but Furies made me realize that this was intentional. Lotto is perhaps a genius, good-hearted and sometimes quite insightful. However he also lives his life "fated" for greatness and knows this deep down; this is reflected in the writing style, which is at times pretentious fluff, self-important in its own grasping for the illusion of greatness. (There's a point where he wants to ride her collar bone like a cowboy homunculus or something--what the hell.)
Or maybe I just missed out on Lotto's enchantment and charm, needing Mathilde's bitterness and anger to appreciate him. I found the second half far more interesting, and I felt like I understood Mathilde innately (without rolling my eyes at her particular brand of strangeness).
One last thing is I wish I had greater background knowledge of classics (Greek plays and mythology, etc) to glean the full meaning of the references (and possibly the storytelling structure?).
I did find myself rolling my eyes often at the wiring style in the first half, but Furies made me realize that this was intentional. Lotto is perhaps a genius, good-hearted and sometimes quite insightful. However he also lives his life "fated" for greatness and knows this deep down; this is reflected in the writing style, which is at times pretentious fluff, self-important in its own grasping for the illusion of greatness. (There's a point where he wants to ride her collar bone like a cowboy homunculus or something--what the hell.)
Or maybe I just missed out on Lotto's enchantment and charm, needing Mathilde's bitterness and anger to appreciate him. I found the second half far more interesting, and I felt like I understood Mathilde innately (without rolling my eyes at her particular brand of strangeness).
One last thing is I wish I had greater background knowledge of classics (Greek plays and mythology, etc) to glean the full meaning of the references (and possibly the storytelling structure?).
felicia923's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Sexual assault
edamamebean's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
How does Lauren Groff make me weep uncontrollably every damn time?
lianamathias's review against another edition
3.0
Such a disappointment! The writing was lovely but the whole second half of the book was just disturbing and didn't even keep my interest.
600bars's review against another edition
4.0
For the first half of this book, I thought “this is going to be the first time I hate something but still give it 5 stars”. The author is just so MEAN! She seems to hate her characters! Seriously she was beating the shit out of Lotto like he was Job.
I figured the bracket voice was to mimic stage direction, but also to be the voice of the Fates. The whole book I was stressed by my lack of Greek knowledge. I’ve read Antigone, listened to hadestown, had a shiny MYTHOLOGY book in second grade, and maybe read 2 Percy Jackson books. That’s the extent of my classics knowledge. I thought maybe the Land/Mathilde dalliance has to do w oedipus Rex but I haven’t read that so I don’t know. I wish I had read this w more knowledge of Greek stuff and Shakespeare because there was clearly stuff I wasn’t getting.
I didn’t give this five stars because the second half was unable to live up to the first. The stupid jacket cover straight up tells you that there’s going to be a Gone Girl switchup halfway thru the story, which was dumb as hell to tell me even tho I probably would have figured it out anyway.
I could not tear myself away during the first half. Kai said “This book is like cocaine for your ADHD monkous brain”. It was absurd soap opera levels of drama. There were at least 4 suicides and 3 sudden deaths. Just walloping the characters w one trauma after another which was egregious but I decided to go with it. But the problem is the suspense of finding out the truth behind the obviously mysterious Mathilde is better than the actual truth. Like nothing could have lived up to the unknowing short of being a serial killer, which would’ve been too cliche. I thought Mathilde was gonna be the ghostwriter for all the plays though I thought what Groff had her do w string pulling was better.
Groff is so concerned with weight and thinness and body size. It comes up so much. It’s easy to hate the protagonists who are long tall model perfect, with one flaw each: lottos acne and Mathildes stinky armpits.
Why did this book use the word “peen” so much.....I squirmed every time.
Being this horny seems like a curse and not desirable at all. Also their relationship was so sexually charged but they didn’t have that adventurous of a sex life tbh
It boggles my mind how people could not know their spouse like this. They did not seem to have a friendship in their marriage, and I don’t understand how a romantic relationship can work without a basis of friendship. Idk how you can last 24 years on sexual obsession alone.
Mathilde thought she was a Lotto expert, but we know she doesn’t know him as well as she thinks she does. she is so confident in his heterosexuality when the reader knows that isn’t the case.
Mathilde definitely posts on r/childfree. Such contempt for children and “breeders”!
I’m still fuzzy on Chollies chosen reveal and why he did it when he did.
The ending w Mathildes failed play/publishing poetry under a pseudonym (felt the same about this in crawdads sing) didn’t hit that hard idk maybe I just sorta checked out in the last half.
This was trying to be a highbrow version of gone girl but nothing can live up to that book in terms of hatefulness levels, and that twist genuinely made my
jaw drop. I can see why people would hate this book bc I was feeling myself hating it the whole time, but I was also ADDICTED to reading it, so I had to give it a high rating.
Anyway the first half was full throttle ridiculous and deliciously hateful. I was liking how over the top it was. I wished the second half had been just as insane but I recognize that no answer can be as satisfying as the magic of the unknown.
I figured the bracket voice was to mimic stage direction, but also to be the voice of the Fates. The whole book I was stressed by my lack of Greek knowledge. I’ve read Antigone, listened to hadestown, had a shiny MYTHOLOGY book in second grade, and maybe read 2 Percy Jackson books. That’s the extent of my classics knowledge. I thought maybe the Land/Mathilde dalliance has to do w oedipus Rex but I haven’t read that so I don’t know. I wish I had read this w more knowledge of Greek stuff and Shakespeare because there was clearly stuff I wasn’t getting.
I didn’t give this five stars because the second half was unable to live up to the first. The stupid jacket cover straight up tells you that there’s going to be a Gone Girl switchup halfway thru the story, which was dumb as hell to tell me even tho I probably would have figured it out anyway.
I could not tear myself away during the first half. Kai said “This book is like cocaine for your ADHD monkous brain”. It was absurd soap opera levels of drama. There were at least 4 suicides and 3 sudden deaths. Just walloping the characters w one trauma after another which was egregious but I decided to go with it. But the problem is the suspense of finding out the truth behind the obviously mysterious Mathilde is better than the actual truth. Like nothing could have lived up to the unknowing short of being a serial killer, which would’ve been too cliche. I thought Mathilde was gonna be the ghostwriter for all the plays though I thought what Groff had her do w string pulling was better.
Groff is so concerned with weight and thinness and body size. It comes up so much. It’s easy to hate the protagonists who are long tall model perfect, with one flaw each: lottos acne and Mathildes stinky armpits.
Why did this book use the word “peen” so much.....I squirmed every time.
Being this horny seems like a curse and not desirable at all. Also their relationship was so sexually charged but they didn’t have that adventurous of a sex life tbh
It boggles my mind how people could not know their spouse like this. They did not seem to have a friendship in their marriage, and I don’t understand how a romantic relationship can work without a basis of friendship. Idk how you can last 24 years on sexual obsession alone.
Mathilde thought she was a Lotto expert, but we know she doesn’t know him as well as she thinks she does. she is so confident in his heterosexuality when the reader knows that isn’t the case.
Mathilde definitely posts on r/childfree. Such contempt for children and “breeders”!
I’m still fuzzy on Chollies chosen reveal and why he did it when he did.
The ending w Mathildes failed play/publishing poetry under a pseudonym (felt the same about this in crawdads sing) didn’t hit that hard idk maybe I just sorta checked out in the last half.
This was trying to be a highbrow version of gone girl but nothing can live up to that book in terms of hatefulness levels, and that twist genuinely made my
jaw drop. I can see why people would hate this book bc I was feeling myself hating it the whole time, but I was also ADDICTED to reading it, so I had to give it a high rating.
Anyway the first half was full throttle ridiculous and deliciously hateful. I was liking how over the top it was. I wished the second half had been just as insane but I recognize that no answer can be as satisfying as the magic of the unknown.
pearlagcalo's review against another edition
5.0
4.75⭐️ stars but it's more like a 5. This is the beautiful story of Lotto and Mathilde. For me it was a clear, vivid, raw relationship. There are so many "selves" we present to our partner...as honest as we are to each other, we still are allowed a piece to ourself. It's not deception, it's self preservation. I loved Lotto, I loved Mathilde even more. Their friends are encompass love, envy, betrayal. As the title suggests, it has the bones of a Greek Tragedy.