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949 reviews
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Did not finish book. Stopped at 61%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 61%.
DNF @ 61%
For a book with so many fascinating elements, it was just a mindless read for me. I just wish Bradley had done something else with this concept and this plot than to write a tepid forbidden romance.
Partial Reading Notes
Despite the amenities and pleasures of the twenty-first century, he was bored. He had been handed a plush-lined life, with time to read and pursue thoughts to the phantasmagoric end, totaled in whole seasons of the British Film Institute, to walk for miles, to master some art and paint to his heart's content. He did not need to work, to exchange the sweat of his brow.... And yet, he was bored from havinf no purpose. ...I was afraid he was getting bored of me.
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. The writing is good. Wonderful descriptions.
2. I tried a cautious smile. "Careful," he said. "Your germs are showing." I love a fish out of water!
3. The midpoint narrative turn is actually pretty great. I wish there had been more to suggest it throughout the first half.
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. I don't really understand the flashbacks into his past.
2. I usually love time travel books! I love to watch the characters and author wrestle with the linguistic and narrative conflicts that arise naturally from the inclusion of fictional technology that's largely considered, if not impossible, then at least completely speculative. But Bradley simply bypasses this question and ignores the wealth of narrative and conflict treasures in favor of other questions. Like how would a Victorian sea captain from the 18th century respond to contemporary racial conventions? I don't think contemporary racial conventions as a theme are boring, but I'm not sure why an anachronistic perspective on them is suppose to be good entertainment.
Thank you to the author Kaliane Bradley, publishers Avid Reader Press, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of THE MINISTER OF TIME. I found an audiobook copy on Everand. All views are mine.
For a book with so many fascinating elements, it was just a mindless read for me. I just wish Bradley had done something else with this concept and this plot than to write a tepid forbidden romance.
Partial Reading Notes
Despite the amenities and pleasures of the twenty-first century, he was bored. He had been handed a plush-lined life, with time to read and pursue thoughts to the phantasmagoric end, totaled in whole seasons of the British Film Institute, to walk for miles, to master some art and paint to his heart's content. He did not need to work, to exchange the sweat of his brow.... And yet, he was bored from havinf no purpose. ...I was afraid he was getting bored of me.
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. The writing is good. Wonderful descriptions.
2. I tried a cautious smile. "Careful," he said. "Your germs are showing." I love a fish out of water!
3. The midpoint narrative turn is actually pretty great. I wish there had been more to suggest it throughout the first half.
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. I don't really understand the flashbacks into his past.
2. I usually love time travel books! I love to watch the characters and author wrestle with the linguistic and narrative conflicts that arise naturally from the inclusion of fictional technology that's largely considered, if not impossible, then at least completely speculative. But Bradley simply bypasses this question and ignores the wealth of narrative and conflict treasures in favor of other questions. Like how would a Victorian sea captain from the 18th century respond to contemporary racial conventions? I don't think contemporary racial conventions as a theme are boring, but I'm not sure why an anachronistic perspective on them is suppose to be good entertainment.
Thank you to the author Kaliane Bradley, publishers Avid Reader Press, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of THE MINISTER OF TIME. I found an audiobook copy on Everand. All views are mine.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
The Other Lola by Ripley Jones
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you to the author Ripley Brown, publishers Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of THE OTHER LOLA. All views are mine.
Irene’s always yelling at the news on the rare occasions she watches it when I’m over at Cam’s. “The writers for this season should be fired!” she says. And then she starts talking about the death of irony. p107
I picked this book up because it is the continuation of the main character's story from MISSING CLARISSA, a YA mystery I rather liked. I actually liked the plot of this one more than the first, though both are good reading. Two high school girls become amateur sleuths due to their podcast about a missing girl (book 1). Afterward, they just trying to mop up the mess their unofficial investigation made of their lives, when the younger sibling of another missing girl shows up on their doorstep. The missing sister has returned, but the sibling insists she's a fake, and the girl sleuths can't help but get drawn in (book 2). I couldn't either, I love stories about imposters.
I have a couple of a quibbles about the style, but they're the same quibbles I normally take with YA books: too much of the plot gets conferred in dialog, character development can get a little unbalanced, simplistic style that somehow still avoids being minimalistic. These are mostly matters of taste conflicting with conventions of the genre.
I recommend this for fans of YA and YA mysteries or thrillers, girls' coming of age tropes, duologies, and cozy mysteries.
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. I love that this book takes on fake news as part of its theme.
2. I don't think they call it "the clap" anymore, but thanks for the advice. p103 I love how the relationships develop! They need to, really, considering how much dialog there is in the book. There need to be strong characters to offset the flimsy plot.
3. I love the repeated "are you doing a podcast?" "No! No podcast!" schtick. It's definitely well-placed and funny!
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. Writing is overly simplistic without approaching minimalism. Not my favorite.
2. There is so much freaking dialog. It's impossible to tether to this story because it vanishes in a cloud of chatter. I'm really getting lost now, currently at 23%, p 69. *edit Found my way once I hit the twist, for some reason!
Rating: 👭🏽👭🏽👭🏽.5 /5 sisters reunited
Recommend? Yes
Finished: Sep 11 '24
Format: Digital arc, NetGalley, NC b
Read this book if you like:
🔍 amateur sleuths
👨👩👧👦 family stories, family drama
👭🏽 teenage girl coming of age
🪞doppelgangers
Irene’s always yelling at the news on the rare occasions she watches it when I’m over at Cam’s. “The writers for this season should be fired!” she says. And then she starts talking about the death of irony. p107
I picked this book up because it is the continuation of the main character's story from MISSING CLARISSA, a YA mystery I rather liked. I actually liked the plot of this one more than the first, though both are good reading. Two high school girls become amateur sleuths due to their podcast about a missing girl (book 1). Afterward, they just trying to mop up the mess their unofficial investigation made of their lives, when the younger sibling of another missing girl shows up on their doorstep. The missing sister has returned, but the sibling insists she's a fake, and the girl sleuths can't help but get drawn in (book 2). I couldn't either, I love stories about imposters.
I have a couple of a quibbles about the style, but they're the same quibbles I normally take with YA books: too much of the plot gets conferred in dialog, character development can get a little unbalanced, simplistic style that somehow still avoids being minimalistic. These are mostly matters of taste conflicting with conventions of the genre.
I recommend this for fans of YA and YA mysteries or thrillers, girls' coming of age tropes, duologies, and cozy mysteries.
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. I love that this book takes on fake news as part of its theme.
2. I don't think they call it "the clap" anymore, but thanks for the advice. p103 I love how the relationships develop! They need to, really, considering how much dialog there is in the book. There need to be strong characters to offset the flimsy plot.
3. I love the repeated "are you doing a podcast?" "No! No podcast!" schtick. It's definitely well-placed and funny!
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. Writing is overly simplistic without approaching minimalism. Not my favorite.
2. There is so much freaking dialog. It's impossible to tether to this story because it vanishes in a cloud of chatter. I'm really getting lost now, currently at 23%, p 69. *edit Found my way once I hit the twist, for some reason!
Rating: 👭🏽👭🏽👭🏽.5 /5 sisters reunited
Recommend? Yes
Finished: Sep 11 '24
Format: Digital arc, NetGalley, NC b
Read this book if you like:
🔍 amateur sleuths
👨👩👧👦 family stories, family drama
👭🏽 teenage girl coming of age
🪞doppelgangers
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Northwoods by Amy Pease
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I liked the mental illness representation, it was really solid work. But I found the plot to be too subtle here, considering the challenging themes.
Full review:
Thank you to my newest autobuy author Amy Pease, publishers Atria Books, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of NORTHWOODS. I found an audiobook copy on Libby. All views are mine.
"He swallowed over and over, until his throat hurt and his mouth was bone dry. He tried to reason with himself: the boat and its passenger weren't there anymore! Besides, I'd he didn't follow the agent to the water, she might ask him why. Or worse, she might come to her own conclusions. What finally got him out of the car were the mosquitoes." loc.1419
NORTHWOODS is an example of how writers can appropriately empathize with their mentally ill characters (in this case addiction) and the readers who will get to know those characters. It's difficult for writers to treat such characters with humanity, and even for readers to.give that much grace in such a hard world. Pease strikes this perfect balance in her debut novel, a literary mystery with a mmc with PTSD and addiction issues. I was excited to see how readers rsponded to this depiction of mental illness, which i consider in my experience with PTSD to be well-researched and impeccably applied. (I read numerous reviews that said the reader suffered while reading about the character– not in empathy or even sympathy, but that the character's addiction and PTSD made the readers uncomfortable and mad at the character, or put off the book. Thank goodness the author treated this character with the humanity the readers are incapable of. And is it any wonder mentally ill people are so stigmatized and alienated in western capitalist culture?) It is good to find fiction that attempts to understand the plight of the addict, rather than just judging him. Coupled with the trigger warnings in the front matter, this has made me a permanent Pease reader.
While this might have been the most important subject for me, this book has much more to offer. Pease's style is efficient, bold, and she can make her way around a description.
While this is a character driven novel, which is not usually my first choice, the characters and relationships develop along interesting lines. I particularly love the precarious dynamic between the mmc and his mom / boss.
The plot is a little flimsy and it's hard to keep hold of the primary conflict here. The ending can easily pass by unnoticed because of the flat story arc. I had to backtrack for it on my audiobook because the book ended when I expected to find another couple chapters!
All said, a really enjoyable read. I recommend this for fans of Gothic elements, mental health and addiction rep, unlikable leads, strong character development, and literary-genre fiction mashup.
Reading Notes:
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. Pease gets mega points for trigger warnings in the front matter!
2. Dang this writer has a serious knack for description! "Rachel had clearly been camping out there for a while, in a nest of bed pillows and tangled blankets, the glass coffee table pulled up to the edge of the couch. It was covered with dirty dishes, smudged cocktail glasses, and an overflowing ashtray. Half a dozen prescription pill bottles sat uncapped, and a few more were visible on the floor beneath the coffee table. A velvet-lined jewelry box, the sort that would hold a huge diamond necklace but probably now held drugs, sat on the glass, and there was a plate-sized splotch of something on the carpeting. The room smelled of cigarettes and overripe fruit, and an overflowing trash bag sat in the middle of the kitchen. The reflected light from the television danced on the glass coffee table as the white-suited preacher was replaced by an advertisement for expensive adjustable beds. It was a familiar tableau—the mess, the drugs, the woman huddled on the sofa. Only this time, Ben wasn’t there. For the first time tonight, Marge’s eyes pricked with emotion." loc.311
3. Pease clearly did her research on addiction and she's handling the subject well: At least so far! I'll edit this comment if I change my mind.
4. This is a good mystery, tangled up with a theme that hits close to home for a lot of Americans. It makes for compelling reading!
5. This is one of the most humane treatments of addiction I've seen in fiction. Thank you to the author for empathizing so deeply with her characters and readers 💜
6. I really like characters that react naturally, like here, but sometimes it goes on for too long or otherwise derails the plot or even the other characters.
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. I really like this book, but the story focuses too much on the characters, in disservice to the plot, which is the mystery. Huge chunks of this book go by without any mention of the case at hand.
Rating: 🩸🩸🩸🩸 /5 drops of blood
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: Sep 11 '24
Format: Digital arc; Audiobook, Libby
Read this book if you like:
🔍 mysteries
👨👩👧👦 family stories, family drama
👤 mental illness and addiction
🧌 genre mashup
🕯 gothic elements
Full review:
Thank you to my newest autobuy author Amy Pease, publishers Atria Books, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of NORTHWOODS. I found an audiobook copy on Libby. All views are mine.
"He swallowed over and over, until his throat hurt and his mouth was bone dry. He tried to reason with himself: the boat and its passenger weren't there anymore! Besides, I'd he didn't follow the agent to the water, she might ask him why. Or worse, she might come to her own conclusions. What finally got him out of the car were the mosquitoes." loc.1419
NORTHWOODS is an example of how writers can appropriately empathize with their mentally ill characters (in this case addiction) and the readers who will get to know those characters. It's difficult for writers to treat such characters with humanity, and even for readers to.give that much grace in such a hard world. Pease strikes this perfect balance in her debut novel, a literary mystery with a mmc with PTSD and addiction issues. I was excited to see how readers rsponded to this depiction of mental illness, which i consider in my experience with PTSD to be well-researched and impeccably applied. (I read numerous reviews that said the reader suffered while reading about the character– not in empathy or even sympathy, but that the character's addiction and PTSD made the readers uncomfortable and mad at the character, or put off the book. Thank goodness the author treated this character with the humanity the readers are incapable of. And is it any wonder mentally ill people are so stigmatized and alienated in western capitalist culture?) It is good to find fiction that attempts to understand the plight of the addict, rather than just judging him. Coupled with the trigger warnings in the front matter, this has made me a permanent Pease reader.
While this might have been the most important subject for me, this book has much more to offer. Pease's style is efficient, bold, and she can make her way around a description.
While this is a character driven novel, which is not usually my first choice, the characters and relationships develop along interesting lines. I particularly love the precarious dynamic between the mmc and his mom / boss.
The plot is a little flimsy and it's hard to keep hold of the primary conflict here. The ending can easily pass by unnoticed because of the flat story arc. I had to backtrack for it on my audiobook because the book ended when I expected to find another couple chapters!
All said, a really enjoyable read. I recommend this for fans of Gothic elements, mental health and addiction rep, unlikable leads, strong character development, and literary-genre fiction mashup.
Reading Notes:
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. Pease gets mega points for trigger warnings in the front matter!
2. Dang this writer has a serious knack for description! "Rachel had clearly been camping out there for a while, in a nest of bed pillows and tangled blankets, the glass coffee table pulled up to the edge of the couch. It was covered with dirty dishes, smudged cocktail glasses, and an overflowing ashtray. Half a dozen prescription pill bottles sat uncapped, and a few more were visible on the floor beneath the coffee table. A velvet-lined jewelry box, the sort that would hold a huge diamond necklace but probably now held drugs, sat on the glass, and there was a plate-sized splotch of something on the carpeting. The room smelled of cigarettes and overripe fruit, and an overflowing trash bag sat in the middle of the kitchen. The reflected light from the television danced on the glass coffee table as the white-suited preacher was replaced by an advertisement for expensive adjustable beds. It was a familiar tableau—the mess, the drugs, the woman huddled on the sofa. Only this time, Ben wasn’t there. For the first time tonight, Marge’s eyes pricked with emotion." loc.311
3. Pease clearly did her research on addiction and she's handling the subject well: At least so far! I'll edit this comment if I change my mind.
4. This is a good mystery, tangled up with a theme that hits close to home for a lot of Americans. It makes for compelling reading!
5. This is one of the most humane treatments of addiction I've seen in fiction. Thank you to the author for empathizing so deeply with her characters and readers 💜
6. I really like characters that react naturally, like here, but sometimes it goes on for too long or otherwise derails the plot or even the other characters.
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. I really like this book, but the story focuses too much on the characters, in disservice to the plot, which is the mystery. Huge chunks of this book go by without any mention of the case at hand.
Rating: 🩸🩸🩸🩸 /5 drops of blood
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: Sep 11 '24
Format: Digital arc; Audiobook, Libby
Read this book if you like:
🔍 mysteries
👨👩👧👦 family stories, family drama
👤 mental illness and addiction
🧌 genre mashup
🕯 gothic elements
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Murder
Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Stalking
Moderate: Fatphobia, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry
The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Thank you to the author Rachel Hawkins, publishers St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of THE HEIRESS. All views are mine.
I got away with it. That was all I cared about. It feels good to write that down, I must say. The clear, pure truth of it, no excuses, no explanations. I had gotten away with murder, and I was glad for it. p96
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. I love the conversational narrative voice. Experts always tell writers to strive for sounding like they're talking to a friend over coffee, but its hard to affect. *This* is it.
2. Ask him about what he’s reading (the Roman history book I gave him for Christmas), ask him his thoughts on the hierarchy of fast-food chains (Burger King is overrated, Arby’s deserves more love, he can’t fuck with Taco Bell after some drunken incident in college), ask him about politics (a conversation that lasted for nearly all of Missouri), and he has plenty to say. When it comes to his family? Nothing. This scene contains excellent development of both main characters and their relationship, as well as plot development–they're driving into a Hazy present composed only of his memories. That is one unsafe situation for everyone! Such good friction, too.
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. This contains a great many characters, but they don't often interact. More often, the author describes one or more characters describing yet other characters. But it's all dialogue and summary, essentially.
2. This book is hard to follow. Multiple perspectives in multiple time periods, but they're all in first person, and there's nothing stylistically to distinguish them from each other.
3. The ending is neither well-plotted or memorable.
Rating: 🏰🏰.5 /5 mountain castles
Recommend? Maybe
Finished: Sep 3 '24
Format: Digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
🏚 creepy houses
👨👩👧👦 family stories, family drama
🩸 sibling rivalry
💇♂️ boys' coming of age
🔪 murder mystery
I got away with it. That was all I cared about. It feels good to write that down, I must say. The clear, pure truth of it, no excuses, no explanations. I had gotten away with murder, and I was glad for it. p96
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. I love the conversational narrative voice. Experts always tell writers to strive for sounding like they're talking to a friend over coffee, but its hard to affect. *This* is it.
2. Ask him about what he’s reading (the Roman history book I gave him for Christmas), ask him his thoughts on the hierarchy of fast-food chains (Burger King is overrated, Arby’s deserves more love, he can’t fuck with Taco Bell after some drunken incident in college), ask him about politics (a conversation that lasted for nearly all of Missouri), and he has plenty to say. When it comes to his family? Nothing. This scene contains excellent development of both main characters and their relationship, as well as plot development–they're driving into a Hazy present composed only of his memories. That is one unsafe situation for everyone! Such good friction, too.
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. This contains a great many characters, but they don't often interact. More often, the author describes one or more characters describing yet other characters. But it's all dialogue and summary, essentially.
2. This book is hard to follow. Multiple perspectives in multiple time periods, but they're all in first person, and there's nothing stylistically to distinguish them from each other.
3. The ending is neither well-plotted or memorable.
Rating: 🏰🏰.5 /5 mountain castles
Recommend? Maybe
Finished: Sep 3 '24
Format: Digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
🏚 creepy houses
👨👩👧👦 family stories, family drama
🩸 sibling rivalry
💇♂️ boys' coming of age
🔪 murder mystery
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Incest
Dead Girls Don't Say Sorry by Alex Ritany
dark
emotional
tense
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
2.0
I found an digital copy of DEAD GIRLS DON'T SAY SORRY by Alex Ritany on Libby. All views are mine.
I felt uncomfortable with this book almost from the outset, which is the point the audience learns that one of the two fmcs, Julia, is already dead. Ritany does finally provide an explanation of Julia's death at the end of this four hundred page book, but her death has nothing to do with the plot. It barely registers in the narrative. Both are pretty much devoted to Nora's complaints about how terrible her friend Julia is.
At first, it's not even that clear what Nora's on about. The abusive exchanges dont seem that serious. Over the course of the book, the author escalates the abuse Nora experiences at the hands of Julia, but the developmentdoesn'tmake much sense. For one thing, the abuse dynamic wouldn't play out in this way in an established relationship. Escalation is for new relationship. I shouldn't have spent the first two hundred pages wondering which of these girls needs intervention.
Also, if Julia has untreated NPD or BPD and it's affecting her and other characters' lives, she should probably at least get realistic representation. That's the author's responsibility, to prevent growing stigma attached to mental illness– not bait the audience into wanting the mentally ill character dead. Ritany reveals in her afterword that Julia is based on a past real life friendship of the author's. Not research, which I recommend when writers are trying to manage characters with complex mental illness.
Was this one of those times a writer decided to work out revenge in their fiction? Ritany literally killed off a friend who hurt her feelings decades before. Julia's death doesn't even serve the plot. Also, this should go without saying, but here I am: mentally ill people (and characters) don't deserve to die because they're inconvenient, difficult, or even hurtful.
Reading Notes:
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. With the exception of the constant trios of descriptor—Impulsive, charismatic, head-turning Julia p1— this is beautiful writing. Smooth and sticky, draws you right in, like warm caramel.
2. I like Julia and Nora, the fmc's dynamic. It's a little mean and untrustworthy, just the right believable amount. It both reminds me of my teenage girl friendships and makes for great story tension.
3. I often complain about alternating timelines because this technique is rarely done well, especially when combined with alternating POV. When done poorly, alternating timeline/POV creates serious clarity problems and a pile of work for the reader in the form of backtracking and rereading. In DEAD GIRLS, Ritany elegantly utilizes the alternating timeline. It was always clear whether the reader was in one timeline or the other, because in one, a character was alive, and in the other, she was dead. More than time separates the two perspectives, but an entire book's worth of differences. Loved enjoying this element!
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. This is a pretty slow moving plot, but it reads like a slow burn because of all the character tension.
2. I'm not a fan of how Ritany presents her central theme, toxic relationships. The first person narrator sum FMC Nora tells the reader about many abuses Julia perpetrates on all her friends. Especially Nora. But the behaviors the reader gets to actually witness from Julia are frustratingly vague. I was starting to feel my heart sink. “Are you happy for me?” “Should I be? Are you happy?” ...“Yeah. I’m really happy.” I heard running water on the other end of the line, then Julia sighed. “Then yes. Yeah. I’m happy for you.” She wasn’t. Why? Why couldn’t she let me have this? Nora tells us Julia isn't happy, but *Julia says she is.* So which speaker is unreliable? I hope I come back to this with an edit. *edit but not the kind I hoped for. The author escalates the abuse Nora experiences at the hands of her friend, but I still hate how Julia is written. If she has untreated NPD or BPD and it's affecting her and other characters' lives, she should probably at least get realistic representation. That's the author's responsibility, to prevent growing stigma attached to mental illness– not bait the audience into wanting mentally ill characters dead. Ritany reveals in her afterword that Julia is based on a past friendship. Not research, which I recommend when writers are trying to handle characters with complex mental illness. Was this one of those times a writer decided to work out revenge in their fiction? She literally killed off a friend who hurt her feelings decades before. Julia's death doesn't even serve the plot. Also, this should go without saying, but here I am: mentally ill people (and characters) don't deserve to die because they're (in)convenient, difficult, or even hurtful.
3. The plot really struggles. The two girls are really nonsensical sometimes and as a result the plot wanders. But honestly, I remember acting like this as a teenager. And I knew lots of girls who acted like Nora or Julia. We made no sense to the outside world either.
4. The denouement is confusing, in part because the author introduces new characters and expands a couple of flat characters way more than is necessary or good for the narrative at this point. It's basically fifty pages about the romance subplot, which isn't needed, but which the author was clearly invested in.
Rating: 🚘🚘 /5 revenge car crashes
Recommend? Not really
Finished: Sep 9 '24
Format: Digital, Libby, Kindle, Alexa
Read this book if you like:
🩰 YA drama books
👭🏽 teenage girl friendships
👩🏻❤️💋👨🏽 young love
💇♀️ girl's coming of age
👤 mental illness - NPD and BPD
I felt uncomfortable with this book almost from the outset, which is the point the audience learns that one of the two fmcs, Julia, is already dead. Ritany does finally provide an explanation of Julia's death at the end of this four hundred page book, but her death has nothing to do with the plot. It barely registers in the narrative. Both are pretty much devoted to Nora's complaints about how terrible her friend Julia is.
At first, it's not even that clear what Nora's on about. The abusive exchanges dont seem that serious. Over the course of the book, the author escalates the abuse Nora experiences at the hands of Julia, but the developmentdoesn'tmake much sense. For one thing, the abuse dynamic wouldn't play out in this way in an established relationship. Escalation is for new relationship. I shouldn't have spent the first two hundred pages wondering which of these girls needs intervention.
Also, if Julia has untreated NPD or BPD and it's affecting her and other characters' lives, she should probably at least get realistic representation. That's the author's responsibility, to prevent growing stigma attached to mental illness– not bait the audience into wanting the mentally ill character dead. Ritany reveals in her afterword that Julia is based on a past real life friendship of the author's. Not research, which I recommend when writers are trying to manage characters with complex mental illness.
Was this one of those times a writer decided to work out revenge in their fiction? Ritany literally killed off a friend who hurt her feelings decades before. Julia's death doesn't even serve the plot. Also, this should go without saying, but here I am: mentally ill people (and characters) don't deserve to die because they're inconvenient, difficult, or even hurtful.
Reading Notes:
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. With the exception of the constant trios of descriptor—Impulsive, charismatic, head-turning Julia p1— this is beautiful writing. Smooth and sticky, draws you right in, like warm caramel.
2. I like Julia and Nora, the fmc's dynamic. It's a little mean and untrustworthy, just the right believable amount. It both reminds me of my teenage girl friendships and makes for great story tension.
3. I often complain about alternating timelines because this technique is rarely done well, especially when combined with alternating POV. When done poorly, alternating timeline/POV creates serious clarity problems and a pile of work for the reader in the form of backtracking and rereading. In DEAD GIRLS, Ritany elegantly utilizes the alternating timeline. It was always clear whether the reader was in one timeline or the other, because in one, a character was alive, and in the other, she was dead. More than time separates the two perspectives, but an entire book's worth of differences. Loved enjoying this element!
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. This is a pretty slow moving plot, but it reads like a slow burn because of all the character tension.
2. I'm not a fan of how Ritany presents her central theme, toxic relationships. The first person narrator sum FMC Nora tells the reader about many abuses Julia perpetrates on all her friends. Especially Nora. But the behaviors the reader gets to actually witness from Julia are frustratingly vague. I was starting to feel my heart sink. “Are you happy for me?” “Should I be? Are you happy?” ...“Yeah. I’m really happy.” I heard running water on the other end of the line, then Julia sighed. “Then yes. Yeah. I’m happy for you.” She wasn’t. Why? Why couldn’t she let me have this? Nora tells us Julia isn't happy, but *Julia says she is.* So which speaker is unreliable? I hope I come back to this with an edit. *edit but not the kind I hoped for. The author escalates the abuse Nora experiences at the hands of her friend, but I still hate how Julia is written. If she has untreated NPD or BPD and it's affecting her and other characters' lives, she should probably at least get realistic representation. That's the author's responsibility, to prevent growing stigma attached to mental illness– not bait the audience into wanting mentally ill characters dead. Ritany reveals in her afterword that Julia is based on a past friendship. Not research, which I recommend when writers are trying to handle characters with complex mental illness. Was this one of those times a writer decided to work out revenge in their fiction? She literally killed off a friend who hurt her feelings decades before. Julia's death doesn't even serve the plot. Also, this should go without saying, but here I am: mentally ill people (and characters) don't deserve to die because they're (in)convenient, difficult, or even hurtful.
3. The plot really struggles. The two girls are really nonsensical sometimes and as a result the plot wanders. But honestly, I remember acting like this as a teenager. And I knew lots of girls who acted like Nora or Julia. We made no sense to the outside world either.
4. The denouement is confusing, in part because the author introduces new characters and expands a couple of flat characters way more than is necessary or good for the narrative at this point. It's basically fifty pages about the romance subplot, which isn't needed, but which the author was clearly invested in.
Rating: 🚘🚘 /5 revenge car crashes
Recommend? Not really
Finished: Sep 9 '24
Format: Digital, Libby, Kindle, Alexa
Read this book if you like:
🩰 YA drama books
👭🏽 teenage girl friendships
👩🏻❤️💋👨🏽 young love
💇♀️ girl's coming of age
👤 mental illness - NPD and BPD
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death, Car accident, and Alcohol
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