A review by readingpicnic
Parakeet by Marie-Helene Bertino

5.0

Geez, it’s like this book was made for me—it’s just a culmination of everything I’d want from a book, and I only read it on a whim because the author’s doing a reading nearby. This book has a delectable mix of magical realism and unreliable narrator, similar to Bunny by Mona Awad. This main character had so much going on at once and swirling around in her noggin, so her breakdown is very understandable: dealing with the trauma of surviving a violent attack, her marriage to a boring white guy growing dreadfully closer, being haunted by her dead bird grandmother, having near constant hallucinations, and reconnecting with her estranged trans sister. I’d say the stress levels I experienced are similar to my experience watching Shiva Baby. Currently crying thinking about the rekindling of the relationship between these two sisters; it was so beautiful and really fucking funny.
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