Gabe

Strong recommend reading this through twice! It's very short and pretty easy to read but really hits with a reread. Beautifully crafted, big fan.

Not a story, don’t get it confused, but a genuinely captivating description of circumstances. I felt cynical, holier than thou, exposed, uncomfortable, exasperated, impatient, and entertained. I often read fiction and feel connected to characters or stories in ways that I couldn’t have imagined; see a humanity extracted by the author that allows a comforting understanding and thread connecting us. This was almost the opposite. The characters were familiar, and common in a way that exposed how inhuman people often are. It was good, I’d recommend, quick read.

Full of contradictions and dramatic language. Primary motivation for combatting science denial is for the security of the US, which is typical of an American author but also pathetic and lacking in imagination and humanity.

fine I guess, nothing groundbreaking if you’ve been engaged with feminist content for a while. A good entry point, but not without an active interest. It gets quite graphic and intense, without a clear “resolution” that could leave a reader/listener uninspired.

Also the critique of “empowerment” seemed narrow. Criticisms of sex, sexuality and pornography are valid to an extent but extremely nuanced and I’m not sure this book came even close to doing these topics justice.

These thoughts are with a young woman reader imagined. If the book was intended for a male readership, I think the marketing and some of the tone was off, but closer aligned.

this might be my first experience with magic realism and it was just fine. In some ways the descent into madness story, and uncertain elements of real and unreal, and the complex inner world really works for a tortured, blocked writer, but in other ways it’s a bit impersonal.

I must note that if I had read this a year ago I may have quite liked it, but as it is I am bored by protagonists who are writers. It feels self indulgent and unattached to any real common human experience. That said, I should probably just diversify my library.

Vague Spoilers:

I predicted a “major” twist very early on, I didn’t think it was particularly subtle, particularly as it’s not an uncommon trope.

More serious spoilers:

In a book where what is real or not is so vague, I’m not sure why she needed an explicitly imaginary friend?