delagoldwein's review against another edition
Pointless and seems to be going nowhere.
redroofcolleen's review against another edition
2.0
A man begins a relationship after nearly literally bumping into someone. It seems more out of curiosity and resignation that they continue seeing each other and gradually forge a life together. For a person with such a lively interior life - I love his vivid descriptions of places - his relationships in the real world feel very staccato and muted. There's no semblance of love, passion, or electricity. It is understandable when viewed from the lens of each character living in exile, that we hold back in fear of losing everything again, but it makes for a tedious read.
thebookcoyote's review against another edition
3.0
TW/CW: Violence, death, sexual assault, racism
REVIEW: The first thing to realize when you sit down to read this book is that nothing really ever happens. Yes, there’s a weak story with Chris and Ana going back and forth on their relationship, and back and forth on whether they’re going to go to live in Mexico…but the vast majority of this book wasn’t that.
It was more a slice of life, looking closely at Chris’s neighbors, at his past, at what he’d lost in his life and trying to make it all make sense (which it doesn’t).
While Lazar’s writing is certainly lovely, I would have liked less of the pages and pages of brooding artist ennui and more about the actual story, which is kind of left up in the air with two ways it could possibly be going. I don’t really like that.
This wasn’t a bad book, but it was a rather boring one and could have been much better.
REVIEW: The first thing to realize when you sit down to read this book is that nothing really ever happens. Yes, there’s a weak story with Chris and Ana going back and forth on their relationship, and back and forth on whether they’re going to go to live in Mexico…but the vast majority of this book wasn’t that.
It was more a slice of life, looking closely at Chris’s neighbors, at his past, at what he’d lost in his life and trying to make it all make sense (which it doesn’t).
While Lazar’s writing is certainly lovely, I would have liked less of the pages and pages of brooding artist ennui and more about the actual story, which is kind of left up in the air with two ways it could possibly be going. I don’t really like that.
This wasn’t a bad book, but it was a rather boring one and could have been much better.
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