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afterplague's review against another edition
- 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'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.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Vomit, and Alcohol
Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Antisemitism, and Abortion
scroquis's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Minor: Racism and Antisemitism
faerieevee's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, and Classism
Minor: Abortion
eachz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Abortion
Minor: Antisemitism and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
lauralintunen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Fatphobia, Sexism, Sexual content, and Vomit
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Classism
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Ableism, Excrement, Antisemitism, and Abortion
vabraham's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Fatphobia, and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Antisemitism, Grief, and Classism
anniesher23's review against another edition
- 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
But that said, I found the majority of this book intolerable. The main character is not only an awful person but also pretty boring. Her extreme privilege, cruelty, and apathy make her hard to care about at all. And when her character does vaguely develop at the end it doesn’t feel earned at all.
I actually thought Riva’s story and character was the most interesting part of the book, so I was frustrated that she was reduced to antisemitic stereotypes of Jewish women (status/wealth/beauty obsessed, not as pretty as the main character, literally described as “greedy” and “vampiric” in one scene, etc.). I get that it’s all coming from the perspective of the main character, who sucks, but still. There’s no real resolution or self awareness on this.
I’m so shocked people like this book so much.
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Antisemitism, Grief, Abortion, and Death of parent
phantompansy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Abortion
sadiaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Classism