sanmeow's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
dear god this was so disorganized it made no sense. the plot and the dialogue are both disorganized, actually. not using quotation marks is something i actually like a lot of the time, but not here. that's because everything was so messy that one can barely keep track of it. the characters were irritating too and i was really hoping they'd be actually developed. the supernatural elements took me off guard but i honestly wouldn't have hated them if everything else wasn't a mess </3
nataliedc's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
3.25
A weird exploration of parasocial relationships and the validity of manifestation through the eyes of two unlikeable service workers as they dive into the depths of their obsession with a jewerly business-owner named Jen. This is probably one of the weirdest books I've ever read, especially for a debut work. The writing is matter-of-fact, the characters are very unlikeable (this problem gets worse as the book goes on), and the plot is so wacky that it simply cannot be predicted. I think this story probably would've worked way better as a novella, since there are a lot of dull moments (in which the characters are being unbearably self-loathing) that could've easily been cut out. I also wish there were a lot more magical/horror elements as that would've really picked up the pace of this drawn-out character study. With that said, I was engaged with the story, especially once it picked up in the fourth part of the book (spoiler: shit gets wild). Even though I hated the ending (seriously, was this a smart commentary on parasocial relationships, a horror-comedy or a feminist's perspective on why men senselessly murder their ex-girlfriends???), I understand why this might be a lot of people's bread and butter. I don't see myself picking this book up again, but I am interested in what Beth Morgan comes out with next.
600bars's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 An under-discussed fact of life is that the most intimate thing about being in a long term relationship is not them seeing the worst of your bodily fluids. It’s actually them seeing you trying to be cool in front of acquaintances whose approval you desperately want. Idk how to explain this, like there is actually nothing more naked and vulnerable than to let someone who truly knows you watch you be earnestly fake. It’s also a test of attraction/love if witnessing that does not produce “the ick”. A Touch of Jen is a love triangle that exactly captures this feeling, and I can’t think of anything else I’ve read that demonstrates this.
Remy and Alicia are a couple of beta losers who work menial food service jobs, the typical flyover state yokel who moves to New York. (I say this as a menial-job-having flyover state resident.) Anyway. They are mutually obsessed with this girl Jen, who used to be Remy’s coworker at a restaurant. I thought Jen was an influencer, but it became clear that she wasn’t famous or anything. She probably had between 3k and 10k followers at max, enough to be a locally popular girl but not enough to make a living, though she was trying to achieve real influencer status. Jen has a jewelry brand and is always globe trotting, but of course she is not able to quit her day job and while she takes luxurious photos she has to travel on a shoestring. She has adult braces a la Belle Delphine and she is obsessed with a self-help book called “the Apple Bush” which is basically the Secret but trendier. Remy knows the real Jen from their restaurant days, and he can see the gulf between her and her instagram self, but he remains enraptured by her online presence. Alicia is equally charmed; Jen represents everything she isn’t: cool, confident, hot, worldly. Alicia and Remy are so obsessed with Jen that she’s the center of their sex life and they only fuck while roleplaying as Remy and Jen.
They run into Jen and she ends up inviting them on a surf trip. Here I began to get nervous. I liked the White Lotus, but I am starting to feel like everything popular that isn’t one of the major franchises has this exact same plot! “Rich people on vacation, ensemble cast where each character has their own shit going on and is uniquely unlikeable but also sympathetic, class resentment threatens to erupt, everyone is unbelievably cruel and biting when they talk, things get crazayyy and someone dies!” I haven’t seen the Menu or Glass Onion but they seem to fit this mold, as does Nine Perfect Strangers which I never finished. However, I guess it’s a winning formula for a reason because you can explore some very particular interpersonal dynamics.
Jen and Remy bonded at their restaurant job over being mean and snarky. There is a very particular bond that forms at restaurant jobs that is not the same as any other workplace or tbh any other setting I’ve been in. It’s an extremely lascivious environment because everyone is either very outgoing or good at pretending they are, and everyone is drinking all the time. In many service jobs there’s a lot of bonding that happens at the expense of customers. I understand the mechanics behind it: you’re being ordered around and treated like dogshit all day, so it’s a way to take back a little bit of power. I’ve definitely had coworkers with whom I have nothing else in common and nothing to talk about, so talking about the rude thing a terrible customer has done is like talking about the weather and then you bond in your shared persecution. But it does sometimes get out of hand, and become overly mean, and it’s an extremely flimsy thing to base a friendship on.
I read a funny Nick Hornby book called How to be Good about a woman whose husband wrote a bitchy gossip column and she wished he would be less of a dick, but then he had a change of heart and became the type of do-gooder who was constantly inviting underprivileged youth to dinner and wouldn’t commiserate about anything and she was like omg I liked you better before! Remy and Jen’s dynamic is similar; she’s become all new agey and sanctimonious, which reads as very fake and annoying to Remy. But at the same time, Jen is correct that Remy’s negativity and asshole demeanor is not doing him any favors.
[SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT THERE’S AN ABRUPT SHIFT IN THE BOOK SO DON’T READ MORE IF YOU PLAN ON READING THIS BUT I DIDN’T WANNA HIDE THE WHOLE THING]
Alicia starts doing an intense overidentification → impersonation thing with Jen where she gets a job at Jen’s favorite skincare brand (implied to be like Glossier or perhaps the Ordinary) and even begins going by the name Jen. She started telling people she was an artist on the vacation, even though she was actually a sandwich artist. But she decides to take the Apple Bush manifestation tricks to heart and try being an artist: she begins building this hot tub sensory deprivation tank in their living room. I thought this was setting up a 3 women/Persona style arc but instead Alicia is abruptly killed off! I started liking it less because even though I said I was fatigued of the White Lotus style plot, I personally kinda relate to Alicia’s general patheticness and I missed when she was gone.
The book then takes a genre turn with an evil little green monster goblin. This was just pure fun and was quite scary at times. There are also some hilarious moments, like when Alicia’s family scatters her ashes and no one can think of a hymn they all know so they sing “I’ve been workin’ on the railroad”. This was all great fun but I was more interested in the dynamics of Alicia/Remy/Jen and their varying levels of Realness.
Remy and Alicia are a couple of beta losers who work menial food service jobs, the typical flyover state yokel who moves to New York. (I say this as a menial-job-having flyover state resident.) Anyway. They are mutually obsessed with this girl Jen, who used to be Remy’s coworker at a restaurant. I thought Jen was an influencer, but it became clear that she wasn’t famous or anything. She probably had between 3k and 10k followers at max, enough to be a locally popular girl but not enough to make a living, though she was trying to achieve real influencer status. Jen has a jewelry brand and is always globe trotting, but of course she is not able to quit her day job and while she takes luxurious photos she has to travel on a shoestring. She has adult braces a la Belle Delphine and she is obsessed with a self-help book called “the Apple Bush” which is basically the Secret but trendier. Remy knows the real Jen from their restaurant days, and he can see the gulf between her and her instagram self, but he remains enraptured by her online presence. Alicia is equally charmed; Jen represents everything she isn’t: cool, confident, hot, worldly. Alicia and Remy are so obsessed with Jen that she’s the center of their sex life and they only fuck while roleplaying as Remy and Jen.
They run into Jen and she ends up inviting them on a surf trip. Here I began to get nervous. I liked the White Lotus, but I am starting to feel like everything popular that isn’t one of the major franchises has this exact same plot! “Rich people on vacation, ensemble cast where each character has their own shit going on and is uniquely unlikeable but also sympathetic, class resentment threatens to erupt, everyone is unbelievably cruel and biting when they talk, things get crazayyy and someone dies!” I haven’t seen the Menu or Glass Onion but they seem to fit this mold, as does Nine Perfect Strangers which I never finished. However, I guess it’s a winning formula for a reason because you can explore some very particular interpersonal dynamics.
Jen and Remy bonded at their restaurant job over being mean and snarky. There is a very particular bond that forms at restaurant jobs that is not the same as any other workplace or tbh any other setting I’ve been in. It’s an extremely lascivious environment because everyone is either very outgoing or good at pretending they are, and everyone is drinking all the time. In many service jobs there’s a lot of bonding that happens at the expense of customers. I understand the mechanics behind it: you’re being ordered around and treated like dogshit all day, so it’s a way to take back a little bit of power. I’ve definitely had coworkers with whom I have nothing else in common and nothing to talk about, so talking about the rude thing a terrible customer has done is like talking about the weather and then you bond in your shared persecution. But it does sometimes get out of hand, and become overly mean, and it’s an extremely flimsy thing to base a friendship on.
I read a funny Nick Hornby book called How to be Good about a woman whose husband wrote a bitchy gossip column and she wished he would be less of a dick, but then he had a change of heart and became the type of do-gooder who was constantly inviting underprivileged youth to dinner and wouldn’t commiserate about anything and she was like omg I liked you better before! Remy and Jen’s dynamic is similar; she’s become all new agey and sanctimonious, which reads as very fake and annoying to Remy. But at the same time, Jen is correct that Remy’s negativity and asshole demeanor is not doing him any favors.
[SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT THERE’S AN ABRUPT SHIFT IN THE BOOK SO DON’T READ MORE IF YOU PLAN ON READING THIS BUT I DIDN’T WANNA HIDE THE WHOLE THING]
Alicia starts doing an intense overidentification → impersonation thing with Jen where she gets a job at Jen’s favorite skincare brand (implied to be like Glossier or perhaps the Ordinary) and even begins going by the name Jen. She started telling people she was an artist on the vacation, even though she was actually a sandwich artist. But she decides to take the Apple Bush manifestation tricks to heart and try being an artist: she begins building this hot tub sensory deprivation tank in their living room. I thought this was setting up a 3 women/Persona style arc but instead Alicia is abruptly killed off! I started liking it less because even though I said I was fatigued of the White Lotus style plot, I personally kinda relate to Alicia’s general patheticness and I missed when she was gone.
The book then takes a genre turn with an evil little green monster goblin. This was just pure fun and was quite scary at times. There are also some hilarious moments, like when Alicia’s family scatters her ashes and no one can think of a hymn they all know so they sing “I’ve been workin’ on the railroad”. This was all great fun but I was more interested in the dynamics of Alicia/Remy/Jen and their varying levels of Realness.
einna's review against another edition
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
3 bc I’m still kinda sitting here scratching my head after that ending
stellap's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
learaloveslit's review against another edition
5.0
Edit Part Two: Haha, just kidding. 5 stars. I can’t stop thinking about this book. It’s fucking bananas.
Edit: I’ve decided on a 4 star rating - this was such a polarizing read for me. At times, I didn’t like it, but then that ending just went BONKERS! I had a fun time with the last third of this book and I think I enjoyed it!
HAHAHAHAHAHA! What the actual fuck? Why do I feel like I loved this and hated this at the same time?
Edit: I’ve decided on a 4 star rating - this was such a polarizing read for me. At times, I didn’t like it, but then that ending just went BONKERS! I had a fun time with the last third of this book and I think I enjoyed it!
HAHAHAHAHAHA! What the actual fuck? Why do I feel like I loved this and hated this at the same time?
annamayl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
wtf
theashleeaffliction's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-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
3.75
hannacolm's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.75