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afterplague's review against another edition
reflective
slow-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
0.5
I appreciate "weird" books, but the protagonist of this story is such a truly dreadful person it makes it difficult to read.
I'm not necessarily going to judge this book for having a lack of plot because a lot of literary fiction has that as a convention of the genre. I can also acknowledge that the story has something to say metaphorically and symbolically about parenthood. Parental trauma, parental loss, and also specifically the loss of a mother to a daughter are all themes that are present. Unfortunately, though the theme is present, it doesn't come to any meaningful conclusion, or even really present commentary. It feels like the author has dropped a thousand puzzle pieces in your lap and then walked away.
I'm not inclined to read further into those metaphors because of the protagonist. I understand that she is meant to be a bad person, and somehow sleeping for a year is meant to make her a better person. It's argued in the text that this is because she is able to let go of her emotions and trauma. She hibernates theoretically so she can process these feelings, but instead she just grows some distance and thus is less attached to those feelings. I believe the author could be trying to make a point about how we don't give mental injuries the same rest that we do to physical injuries. On a surface level, that's very true, but I think it misunderstands how people process emotions and mental injury. Resting is important, but working your mind and re-laying neural tracks is arguably more important.
The narrator... how do I even describe her? She's a rude, entitled, misogynistic, racist, anti-Sematic, fatphobic, brat. She's completely horrible to everyone around her, but especially her best friend Reva. When the narrator goes on her hibernation, Reva tries over and over to connect with her and help pull her from this self-imposed isolation. Even as Reva's mother is dying from cancer, the narrator just complains about how she's sick of hearing about it while also being sure to point out how she's skinnier than Reva. She goes on and on about how she's so skinny, and she doesn't even have try unlike poor Reva who is bulimic. The narrator hates Reva, she complains about how she's not cool, and she's annoying, and she's not fashionable, and she's talkative, and she's sweet, and blah blah blah. Reva isn't perfect. She's judgmental and she's sleeping with her married boss, but the way the narrator treats her is so unacceptable. She doesn't even want to attend Reva's mother's funeral because it'll interrupt her sleep experiment.
It's impossible to describe how horrible and entitled she is. When she was fired from her job at an art gallery for sleeping in the supply closet all the time, she SHIT ON THE FLOOR OF THE GALLERY! Like girl, they are not committing some heinous crime against you. You were fired for not doing your job.
The description describes this book as funny. It's not. I don't think I laughed or even smiled a single time while reading this. Was I supposed to laugh when she made fun of men for not wanting to hit on her, implying that they were scared of her "perfectly pink pussy"? Because I didn't. Was I supposed to laugh when she called the "old Jews" in her apartment lobby slovenly? Because I didn't. Was I supposed to laugh when she threatened to kill herself to get her ex-boyfriend, who is currently in a committed relationship, to come over and fuck her? Because I didn't. Was I supposed to laugh when she called an autistic child "retarded"? Because I FUCKING DIDN'T. This book is not funny. It's mean-spirited, and just because the protagonist magically gets better in the last 30 pages of the book doesn't mean all is forgiven.
I'm not convinced by the premise. This women is just going to sleep for a year, and it's going to magically make herself a better person? I thought the message was going to be different. I thought the message was going to be that you can't wish your way to a better self. You need to work and apologize and change your ways, and then maybe someday you can be a person that you like. But NO! Her plan actually works. She literally wakes up one day and is a better person! Now she wants to be around Reva, and she even says she loves her. She feeds the birds, and is polite to retail workers. The narrator is just BETTER. I'm baffled by that. Even within the metaphor of treating a mental injury like a physical one, you still need to slowly rebuild strength in your injured limb.
Also Reva dies in 9/11. I saw it coming, of course. But that is literally so ridiculous. I've never seen a book do a drive-by mention of 9/11, so that at least was a unique experience.
Don't read this. It's boring and horrible. I'm sure there are better literary fiction books that you could be reading.
I'm not necessarily going to judge this book for having a lack of plot because a lot of literary fiction has that as a convention of the genre. I can also acknowledge that the story has something to say metaphorically and symbolically about parenthood. Parental trauma, parental loss, and also specifically the loss of a mother to a daughter are all themes that are present. Unfortunately, though the theme is present, it doesn't come to any meaningful conclusion, or even really present commentary. It feels like the author has dropped a thousand puzzle pieces in your lap and then walked away.
I'm not inclined to read further into those metaphors because of the protagonist. I understand that she is meant to be a bad person, and somehow sleeping for a year is meant to make her a better person. It's argued in the text that this is because she is able to let go of her emotions and trauma. She hibernates theoretically so she can process these feelings, but instead she just grows some distance and thus is less attached to those feelings. I believe the author could be trying to make a point about how we don't give mental injuries the same rest that we do to physical injuries. On a surface level, that's very true, but I think it misunderstands how people process emotions and mental injury. Resting is important, but working your mind and re-laying neural tracks is arguably more important.
The narrator... how do I even describe her? She's a rude, entitled, misogynistic, racist, anti-Sematic, fatphobic, brat. She's completely horrible to everyone around her, but especially her best friend Reva. When the narrator goes on her hibernation, Reva tries over and over to connect with her and help pull her from this self-imposed isolation. Even as Reva's mother is dying from cancer, the narrator just complains about how she's sick of hearing about it while also being sure to point out how she's skinnier than Reva. She goes on and on about how she's so skinny, and she doesn't even have try unlike poor Reva who is bulimic. The narrator hates Reva, she complains about how she's not cool, and she's annoying, and she's not fashionable, and she's talkative, and she's sweet, and blah blah blah. Reva isn't perfect. She's judgmental and she's sleeping with her married boss, but the way the narrator treats her is so unacceptable. She doesn't even want to attend Reva's mother's funeral because it'll interrupt her sleep experiment.
It's impossible to describe how horrible and entitled she is. When she was fired from her job at an art gallery for sleeping in the supply closet all the time, she SHIT ON THE FLOOR OF THE GALLERY! Like girl, they are not committing some heinous crime against you. You were fired for not doing your job.
The description describes this book as funny. It's not. I don't think I laughed or even smiled a single time while reading this. Was I supposed to laugh when she made fun of men for not wanting to hit on her, implying that they were scared of her "perfectly pink pussy"? Because I didn't. Was I supposed to laugh when she called the "old Jews" in her apartment lobby slovenly? Because I didn't. Was I supposed to laugh when she threatened to kill herself to get her ex-boyfriend, who is currently in a committed relationship, to come over and fuck her? Because I didn't. Was I supposed to laugh when she called an autistic child "retarded"? Because I FUCKING DIDN'T. This book is not funny. It's mean-spirited, and just because the protagonist magically gets better in the last 30 pages of the book doesn't mean all is forgiven.
I'm not convinced by the premise. This women is just going to sleep for a year, and it's going to magically make herself a better person? I thought the message was going to be different. I thought the message was going to be that you can't wish your way to a better self. You need to work and apologize and change your ways, and then maybe someday you can be a person that you like. But NO! Her plan actually works. She literally wakes up one day and is a better person! Now she wants to be around Reva, and she even says she loves her. She feeds the birds, and is polite to retail workers. The narrator is just BETTER. I'm baffled by that. Even within the metaphor of treating a mental injury like a physical one, you still need to slowly rebuild strength in your injured limb.
Also Reva dies in 9/11. I saw it coming, of course. But that is literally so ridiculous. I've never seen a book do a drive-by mention of 9/11, so that at least was a unique experience.
Don't read this. It's boring and horrible. I'm sure there are better literary fiction books that you could be reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Vomit, and Alcohol
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Antisemitism, and Abortion
andreamatallin's review against another edition
dark
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism
rebekkamafia's review against another edition
2.0
this was a waste of time
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Ableism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Animal cruelty, Vomit, Abortion, and Pregnancy
caljpg's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I read this last year and it was interesting at first. It was so bad that I couldn’t look away. Then it got repetitive. By the end, I felt like there was no point to the book. I don’t understand why people like it so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Mental illness
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Suicide
xoxo111venus's review against another edition
dark
funny
slow-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Ableism, Death, and Death of parent
Justice Reva my girl ain’t done nothing wrongnatlwlyn's review against another edition
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i did not expect myself to like this book. after all, this book is rated as a 3 star average. the story is narrated by an unreliable narrator that came off as a detached privileged white woman. the character is meant to be written to be unlikable. to put it simply, she wants to sleep for a long period of time to be born as a new person. the story narrates her thoughts; her roller coaster of emotions, her way of handling grief, her past, her thoughts, her relationships. this book might not be everyone's cup of tea and i can see why some people rated the book poorly. but to me, personally, this book is worth the read because the narrations are really detailed, making you taste the character's experience
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Abortion
juulstizya's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
1.5
reva deserved better
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Vomit, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Racism, Xenophobia, Abortion, and Classism
marleefayek's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
fast-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
This book was not what I was expecting having read a few reviews. It was much darker than I anticipated and funny at times. I was compelled to read it in nearly a day, as I was hooked in wanting to know where it was going! I enjoyed the narrators weaving of past and present where it felt like we were in a gray half-waking half-sleeping state with them.
It was a very different perspective on mental health and prescription drugs than I was expecting. I think it commented on whiteness, access to healthcare and privilege in a way I haven't seen before.
Something about it reminded me of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and the novel Rebecca. A woman's spiral and untrustworthy narration. Do we ever learn the narrators name?
It was a very different perspective on mental health and prescription drugs than I was expecting. I think it commented on whiteness, access to healthcare and privilege in a way I haven't seen before.
Something about it reminded me of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and the novel Rebecca. A woman's spiral and untrustworthy narration. Do we ever learn the narrators name?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use and Eating disorder
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Ableism, Sexism, and Abortion
alonnamari3's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I personally loved this book. It’s a new favorite
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Toxic friendship