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maggie_ackbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
katatthefarm's review against another edition
4.0
I couldn’t really describe this book other than say it was a fever dream.
lim3's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jdscott50's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
While forbidden fruit is said to taste sweeter, it usually spoils faster
-Abigail Van Buren
Elodie lives quietly as a baker's wife in a small English town. When an American Ambassador and his wife visit, the order of things is upended. Told in alternating chapters of current events and the aftermath, it reveals dark secrets to the people who live there.
Elodie longs for her husband's affection, but he doesn't even glance at her. With the ambassador, she is allowed to explore her sexuality. Having sexual encounters with the husband while earning the trust of the wife. Is she in control of this situation, or is she simply the mouse to be toyed with?
I enjoyed breaking out of the small-town life, but then the inevitable consequences of seeking the forbidden fruit. It seems like it will work out for Elodie. Everyone gets their comeuppance, and she earns her freedom.
Favorite Passages:
It was easy to see how the red- headed girl would give herself over to him that afternoon in his dark room, heavy with the smell of mildew and salt, and then she would return to the house she shared with her mother, matching red hair, the woman waiting up to slap her face until her mouth was full of blood. That’s what you do with a daughter, especially a bad one, and they’re all bad ones, stricken with their own loveliness, stricken with their own doom. But it’s all conjecture. I didn’t stay to hear her speak, only catching those low rst words that capture and portend all badness, When I was younger.
I ate what was left of the apple, including the slice she had half eaten. I took the dustpan and the brush and I swept up the crumbs of the bread, muddied with dust, but even though the idea occurred to me I didn’t put them in my mouth. I was not that far gone. Nobody, at the beginning, believes they will debase themselves for love . Nobody believes in anything else but joy.
I thought to myself how the worst I had done really was not any of the little betrayals but in murdering my marriage with familiarity, and it was unfair because that is only what marriage demands, the careful establishing of familiarity in order to be able to live your life the next day and the next and the next.
-Abigail Van Buren
Elodie lives quietly as a baker's wife in a small English town. When an American Ambassador and his wife visit, the order of things is upended. Told in alternating chapters of current events and the aftermath, it reveals dark secrets to the people who live there.
Elodie longs for her husband's affection, but he doesn't even glance at her. With the ambassador, she is allowed to explore her sexuality. Having sexual encounters with the husband while earning the trust of the wife. Is she in control of this situation, or is she simply the mouse to be toyed with?
I enjoyed breaking out of the small-town life, but then the inevitable consequences of seeking the forbidden fruit. It seems like it will work out for Elodie. Everyone gets their comeuppance, and she earns her freedom.
Favorite Passages:
It was easy to see how the red- headed girl would give herself over to him that afternoon in his dark room, heavy with the smell of mildew and salt, and then she would return to the house she shared with her mother, matching red hair, the woman waiting up to slap her face until her mouth was full of blood. That’s what you do with a daughter, especially a bad one, and they’re all bad ones, stricken with their own loveliness, stricken with their own doom. But it’s all conjecture. I didn’t stay to hear her speak, only catching those low rst words that capture and portend all badness, When I was younger.
I ate what was left of the apple, including the slice she had half eaten. I took the dustpan and the brush and I swept up the crumbs of the bread, muddied with dust, but even though the idea occurred to me I didn’t put them in my mouth. I was not that far gone. Nobody, at the beginning, believes they will debase themselves for love . Nobody believes in anything else but joy.
I thought to myself how the worst I had done really was not any of the little betrayals but in murdering my marriage with familiarity, and it was unfair because that is only what marriage demands, the careful establishing of familiarity in order to be able to live your life the next day and the next and the next.
standardchaos's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The last 30ish% of the book had me hooked, the plot was finally getting good. I liked the rabbit hole it sent me down about the on the Pont-Saint-Esprit town poisoning of 1951. It was VERY unexpectedly horny; too much for my taste, but you do you Elodie.
codenameivy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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
3.0
i’ll say that 80% of this book was just poetic garbage.
but hell, the last 20% made it worth my time. i think. i don’t know anymore.
that’s what unreliable narrators do to you i guess!
but hell, the last 20% made it worth my time. i think. i don’t know anymore.
that’s what unreliable narrators do to you i guess!
emmasdil3mmas's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
4.0
ari aster 🤝 a24 please
whatzoreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
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
sophie_gray's review
4.0
what the hell SO GOOD made me feel quite anxious sometimes but loved it and loved the sappho and loved how dark it was
jaclyncrupi's review against another edition
3.0
What a strange and intriguing little book. Inspired by the mass poisoning that occurred in the small French town Pont-Saint-Esprit in 1951, Macintosh conjures a story of desire and discontent. The payoff for a lot of introspection and no plot is a wonderful final scene of mania and chaos. Macintosh’s writing intrigues me though I must admit I didn’t fully love this reading experience.