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bangkok67's review against another edition
5.0
Please read more of my reviews at: http://cavebookreviews.blogspot.com
A common personality feature that people attribute to themselves is that they live in their head. The protagonist in this novel is the extreme of a person living in their head. Mary is solitary and thinks about every detail of her life, day by day. Her only friend, Chandra, helps her out and seems to be her alter ego with bold moves. Mary fled her life with a religious, cultist father and lived for her later school years with her aunt, Merle. She then went to college where she roomed with Chandra and they set out to live life together.
The significant aspect of this novel is the skill of the writer. It is my first Catherine Lacey novel and I'm sure I will go back and read her first one. Lacey's writing flows and catches brilliant aspects of life and the characters that populate it. This was an outstanding novel for me so far this year.
ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
A common personality feature that people attribute to themselves is that they live in their head. The protagonist in this novel is the extreme of a person living in their head. Mary is solitary and thinks about every detail of her life, day by day. Her only friend, Chandra, helps her out and seems to be her alter ego with bold moves. Mary fled her life with a religious, cultist father and lived for her later school years with her aunt, Merle. She then went to college where she roomed with Chandra and they set out to live life together.
The significant aspect of this novel is the skill of the writer. It is my first Catherine Lacey novel and I'm sure I will go back and read her first one. Lacey's writing flows and catches brilliant aspects of life and the characters that populate it. This was an outstanding novel for me so far this year.
ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
awkwardlysocial's review against another edition
3.0
Ok, wow. This was a weird book. I didn’t not like it, but I also don’t really know if I liked it.
safetybuddy's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
primordialgirl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I read this in such a frenzy. the way she described anger and men and bodies felt like looking into a mirror
martip5's review against another edition
3.0
The build up was slightly disappointing. However Lacey is a fantastic writer and I’ve enjoyed so many of her books so far, this was just a miss for me!
stephtonya's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
tense
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
3.5
The first half was very fast for me, then the second half really felt like a battle for me to finish.
susanhowson's review against another edition
5.0
A brilliant mystery that maybe isn’t a mystery at all, but either way I’ll never solve it. Something about the tone of this book felt so unique and pure. My brain feels scrubbed clean!
savannah_m's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
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? No
2.5
mgalvan's review against another edition
Reading this book is like sitting in a cafe you don't belong in and giving everyone a fake smile while you think of a more grungy place to exist in because it would feel 100x more real to you.
amyredgreen's review against another edition
2.0
I feel bored just thinking about this book. Started out okay but once it got to Part 2 and the whole girlfriend experiment thing it was sooooo uninteresting. Really did not care about anyone in this book.