Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Magma

This book was basically the torture of a mentally ill woman in an abusive relationship. Trigger warnings for very graphic depictions of self-harm, suicide attempts, and sexual assault. I liked neither the stream-of-conscience style writing, nor the main character's frustrating refusal to do anything that would better her own circumstances. This book was definitely not my style. I don't think I can handle frustrating main characters. I spent the whole book begging her to make literally any other choices than the ones she did.

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hannahparadise's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.5

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fourcue's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.0

Reading this book feels like watching someone drown in slow motion, and there's nothing you can do to help. It makes this a very raw, poetic read, that cuts a bit too close to home in places.

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kojo0o's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-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

4.75

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sidekicksam's review against another edition

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fast-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

4.0

This short story really packs a punch. Like a series of diary entries, the story follows Lilja's relationship with a man that is a walking red flag. But she explains away his faults and manipulative behaviour, develops unhealthy views of the other women in his life, and generally closes herself off more and more.

I think what made this book so eery is that most of her behaviour is so relatable. It's horrifying to think of women in abusive or toxic relationships, but the rationalization she uses to explain away his faults are things I think a lot of us do often. The way Hjörleifsdóttir spins the tale in such short time is amazing and I can't wait to read more by her.

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booksjessreads's review against another edition

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dark sad fast-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? It's complicated

I appreciated this work a lot and thought that it was really well thought out. It elicited a lot of empathy and I really felt involved in Lilja's world. I felt it really explored the anxiety and the social pressure of being in a relationship and wanting to be loved, regardless of the behaviour and attitudes of a partner. I also felt it navigated these emotions in such a raw way and in areas of the book, these emotions were so intense.

I would say that this book represents such a graphic account of life in an abusive relationship and I felt that the pace of this book was really fast. I appreciated that chapters being a page or two reflected the snapshots of what Lilja could remember. I thought that the names of the chapters were aptly named. I felt as though the pace also reflected the way in which time passed for Lilja when she was in her relationship.

I haven't given this a star rating because I felt the subject matter was not something that should be 'rated' per se. A further note is that the translation was really smooth and the text flowed really well. A very heavy book, but a book I appreciated a lot.

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