Paige
I loved Jennette McCurdy’s autobiography and was enraptured with the way she wrote - sarcastic, dark, sharp, almost teasing. She writes very similarly in Half His Age, but instead of reminding me of Lolita or My Dark Vanessa because of the content, I found myself relating it more to Ottessa Moshfegh - there is no one who knows how to write an unlikable woman more than her. I find it refreshing to read novels that are grittier and maybe a bit more disturbing. instead of “I can’t believe anyone would write something like this” i’m shocked thinking “I can’t believe she actually admitted to having these thoughts and put them on paper for us all to see”. sometimes it’s fun peeling back the curtain and seeing what strange, graphic things we can come up with. this novel scratched that weird itch for me
this is the first Sanderson novel I’ve read that I really felt like I could put down and walk away from at almost any point in time. after reading much of his other work, it feels obvious this is his earlier writing. you can catch glimpses of ideas and tropes he fleshes out and nails in other stories but was only just starting to grasp here. largely, the pacing of this novel was the hardest for me to get over. the first 60% felt painfully slow and the action of parts 2 and 3 felt too glossed over. the story was nice but execution wasn’t my favorite.
I haven't had a book keep me awake past my bedtime in SO long, reminding me of what it was like to be a kid enjoying reading and never wanting to put it down. phenomenal world building with the political/Will system, I loved the characters and the way they were fleshed out, the pace was just right and left plenty of breadcrumbs that had me flipping back just to re-read!
4.5 rounded up. this book falls into one of my favorite genres - messy, problematic, uncomfortable, unlikable female main characters. something about a first person rendition of women railing against the call of the void is so fascinating to read about, if for nothing else than its novelty compared to the typical FMC tropes we see over and over again in fiction. the vibes are like watching someone through a window doing something perverse, and you're physically cringing away from it but also winking an eye back open trying to figure out wtf they're doing? thank you ottessa moshfegh you truly never miss
I love audiobooking memoirs (or in this case, not a memoir?) and this one especially was produced with the listener in mind. A beautiful production thoughtfully arranged, Amy's voice and stories were poignant, timely, silly, heartwarming, and heartbreaking.
I followed up listening to this book with her NYT article “You May Want To Marry My Husband”, published 10 days prior to her passing of ovarian cancer, and her husband's response to this love letter she left for him one year later. AKR has left the world works of art to be cherished. In her words, I, too, want more.
this book is NOT for the faint of heart. i generally can stomach gruesome horror, but this is high on my list of most disturbing things i've ever read. the writing oscillates rapidly between deranged, disgusting, and heartbreaking, but never once did i want to do anything but keep reading, like a car crash you can't look away from. certainly a good spooky season read!
edit: i've also never been more happy to be a vegetarian than while reading this novel
this one i struggled with. i was really into the style of writing in the beginning of the novel, but less than halfway through, the choppiness and dry irony and monologues on random topics got to be less endearing. very much a no plot all vibes kind of novel. excellent writing and character building, just not my style, probably would've enjoyed it more had it been shorter
i loooved this book. Ma's voice and writing style immediately captured me and it was hard to believe this was written years prior to 2020. dystopian, unsettling, and highly reflective on how our society is clutched by capitalism, and how quickly things can lose meaning in the face of global disarray.
the girlies are gonna hate me for this one!!!
a better title would have been: “Pretentious College Kids Murder Friend After Their Friend Wants to Expose Them for Murdering Someone Else - Group Feels No Remorse For Any of This”
nothing of interest happened .... all unlikeable characters... plot holes and time inconsistencies .... it was a no from me :(
whew.... i wanted to love this so much but an acotar book that takes me TWO MONTHS to finish?? ...... read for the smut, not the plot :(
as an aside, nothing will ever bother me more than knowing that Prythian doesn't have a word for shampoo (“Vials of what had to be concoctions for washing one's body and hair”) yet everyone and their mother says “smutty smutty smut smut smut books smutty romance novels” all the time. SJM please make it make sense
the first book that every girl needs as they're growing up is that american girl doll ‘care and keeping of you' book. the second is florence given's Women Don't Owe You Pretty.
i cringe thinking of all the times in my life this book would've come in handy as near-free therapy. while from the outside it seemed like very live-laugh-love feminism, instead we got class-conscious, privilege-acknowledging, girlbossing feminism. love the book, hate that it took me 24 years before reading it
DNF'd halfway through .... pace was way too slow to keep my interest
dnf :( had high hopes but just wasn't a fan of the uncohesive narrative
this book has been a ton of work for very little reward