Adeline

Psychological thriller following Catherine a documentary film maker who receives a manuscript but recognises herself as one of the characters and Stephen a widower who discovers some mysterious objects left by his late wife.

Overall this was such an intense story. The plot seemed straightforward at the first but the author created a real page turner of a story with enough twists and suspense to make me rage through this.

There was a mix of povs (one 1st person and others as 3rd omniscient) and the author did a great job fleshing out the two main point of views, showing them as fully formed characters, each with a lot negative traits and some positive traits, so while I wasn’t particularly fond of them (for most part of the story), they felt compelling to read. The other two points of view that follows Catherine’s family felt a bit superfluous for me and even some elements from the two main points of view didn’t add anything interesting.

Pacing wise the majority of the novel was a slow burn which I like, as the author slowly unfolds the story and interlocks the each stories together. However, towards the end (where the most important twist is revealed), everything happened a bit too quickly, like how the characters accepted what is said, that felt a bit rushed so the emotional impact was not really there for me. That being said I really liked Catherine’s scenes with her son during that part of the story.

While not perfect this felt like a good slow burning but fast paced page turning thriller, I’ll definitely check out the tv adaptation with Cate Blanchett.

3.25 stars

Historical horror following Rafaela, a young nun who is newly committed into another convent after escaping a horrifying experience. At this convent of the Sisters of Divine Innocence however she soon experiences another terrible event, hoping that the priest in the nearby village would help her discover if her fellow nuns are graced by a divine miracle or by the devil.

So this book didn’t truly work for me.

There was some truly gruesome and gory images throughout the novel that I liked, and the oppressive atmosphere was well present.

However, pacing wise it felt too repetitive, with the characters rehashing thoughts and questions too often so it felt cumbersome to read at one point. Because of that, the slow burn pace felt more like dragging rather than advancing the plot.

Rafaela was a rather meek, unreliable and unsure character. Now normally I don’t mind this and while it felt understandable because of her past, those repetitive passages felt tiresome and less compelling to read as the story went on.

I personally didn’t really care for the other point of view nor for the character of Father Bruno, I felt he didn’t really add anything interesting and also I kind of cheered at his end lol.

The writing was good especially the gory stuff, though my eyes glazed over the whole prayer parts (understandable given the setting but it added to my frustration with the repetitiveness).

In essence the plot felt lacking and some elements were thrown into it with no apparent reason or aftermath.

I really liked the ending though, how tragic and bleak it felt. It really added a more horrific and helpless atmosphere of the novel.

Unfortunately while I did like some elements, the overall reading experience of this novel left me more unsatisfied than pleased.

slight spoilers

Literary fiction, translated from Swedish, it follows a young journalist Emelie, who decides to go camping in the countryside after suffering a burnout; she stumbles across a community, the Colony, of seven people living off the grid.

This was overall a very interesting read.

The narrative style was quite original, with a whimsical tone, surrealistic atmosphere, a chaotic pacing. The writing was quite good, the author’s rendering each character clearly, sometimes through diary entries. There was some beautiful turns of phrases throughout the story, punctuating some humorous, awkward and light hearted moments but also emotional and very hard ones to read (check the trigger warnings).

The book explored quite successfully various thematics on power, manipulation, social conformity, isolation, community, misogyny, patriarchy, capitalism, agency.

So pacing wise, as I said this was chaotic. It was more character driven than I first expected. Each member of the Colony had multiple flashbacks. There were interesting, in that they humanised the colony by fleshing them out as complete and complex human beings, with negative and positive traits, the horrible and joyful events they experienced .

However it felt a bit too long at times and the plot in the present moved a bit too quickly especially regarding how each member of the colony ended up. Some conflicts were resolved too quickly and some of the character’s problems brushed off too quickly.

I was surprised that Emelie never feel like the main character, more like the catalyst to frame the story and make the plot evolve. I wanted to see more of her story especially how she ended up.

Overall an engaging first novel by this author and I’ll be on the look out for the for her next books.

4.25 stars

Speculative literary mystery following Noor a psychologist at Nepenthe, a clinic specialising in removing memories that is in a middle of a scandal as they are offering to bring back the deleted memories, also showing the lives of several characters who are connected to this procedure.

This was such a good read ! The writing was pretty good and I really liked the themes developed in this, tackling on identity, memories, grief, PTSD, relationships, choice, morality, mental health.

This was marked as dystopian and sci-fi, but those parts felt anecdotal for me. It felt more like a character study, not delving too much into the medical/scientific world building but showing the character’s life and the impact of the procedure on their relationships and mental health.

The five points of view were more or less compelling to read, I definitely preferred some stories over others, because some felt a bit too long or didn’t impact me emotionally. Some mysteries weren’t totally wrapped up or characters didn’t get answers which I personally don’t mind that much because it felt realistic and suited the thematic narrative.

I loved how the author connected the points of view little by little. The way she also revealed what happened to the character felt organic and well written.

I had a bit of a problem with pacing as I said, and the main plot felt quite simple (maybe a bit too much?). Also some of the big reveals felt lacking and didn’t wow me, and some of the characters I wasn’t a fan of their storylines.

This was my first reading of Jo Harkin and I’m looking forward to read her recent book The Pretender from my physical tbr.

Historical fiction with elements of folklore, horror and mystery, following two characters in the Scottish countryside who meets as they discover the preserved body of a young woman in a peat bog: Lizzie, unhappily married to a man who has enlisted to fight in the First World War and Johnny a charming but secretive wandering singer/farm hand.

So I read it quite quickly, intrigued on how the story would evolve, and though I wasn’t completely satisfied, I felt this was a good debut.

The writing was pretty good. I love how distinct Lizzie’s chapters was compared to Johnny’s, the latter having more Scottish vernacular that showed his personality and social status. There were some lovely descriptions of the Scottish countryside, the dreary atmosphere and harsh conditions of farm work.

The main characters they felt fully fleshed out, each having positive and negative traits.

Pacing wise, the story felt fast paced at time and the flashbacks were really well placed, but some parts felt too slow and superfluous, with a lack of tension and conflict in the scenes between characters, when they confronted each other and things were being resolved too quickly.

Lizzy and Johnny’s romantic relationship arc also felt a bit rushed for the amount of time they spent together.

Despite being tagged as horror, there wasn’t really some truly frightening or supernatural moments. Plus the mystery of the bog woman ended up not being central to the plot, basically a sort of Macguffin so that the two main characters would meet and for the authors to present her themes. Other mysteries were explored, some were interesting and others not, but all arrived a bit too late in the story.

Interesting thematics were developed throughout the story like social expectations and pressure, misogyny, toxic masculinity, women’s lack of agency and their voice being silenced, privileges of rich people, the power of tales and superstitions, the generational trauma of war and violence etc etc.

Despite those shortcomings, this was a solid debut and I’ll keep an eye for this author’s future releases.

Literary translated fiction following, Asta a writer struggling with her second book, lonely but for her friendship with Mai who recently became a mother. Her anxiety is heightened when she receives an invitation for the memorial of a deceased fellow university student August, due to past memories of what happened to him, his relation with her and Mai.  This was a very quick read with a simple plot but surprisingly dense in the themes presented, as it deals with nostalgia, youth, loneliness, platonic and non platonic love, friendship but also creativity and art.  The format is original in that it's written like phone messages but without punctuation or speech bubbles (for the majority) so it gives a poetry quality to the text. Despite having to reread some sentences to make sense of it, this is a short book that can be read in one sitting because there's not a lot of text on each page. The writing was simple and unadorned but there were some lovely scenes and turns of phrases.  I liked the characters and their relationships, especially Mai and Asta's friendship (ladiesssss). Because of the format past and present is intertwined, making a dizzying experience yet showing Asta's mental state and her struggles with her past and present.   I wasn't 100% emotionally invested, maybe because of the format, but because this was a quick read I'll just bump off a star. 

4.5 stars  In Stag Dance, Torrey Peters explores various shades of transness, gender identity, shame, (repressed) desire, (internalised) homophobia, misogyny, found family, community, feminism, sexuality, self discovery, in diverse settings (academic, urban, country/western, dystopian) through 3 novellas and 1 novels.  I really enjoyed this collection. Throughout the stories there's a sort of bleak and dark atmosphere where the author portrays complex and compelling queer characters.  She has such a great way with language and her writing is so vivid , this collection of stories really showcasing her versatility as an author.  Each story had their own unique writing style with a distinct vocab used to illustrate the character's experience. For example the titular novel is set in a lumberjack camp and the writing style completely throws you into a late 19th/early 20th century or western movie atmosphere.  Some elements I wasn't a fan of, like the pacing, especially in the titular story as the ending felt a bit too abrupt while the rest was a bit too long.  I was expecting a bit more horror elements in the different stories too. 
This was such an enriching and compelling read, I'll definitely check more of this author's work. 

4 stars - Spoilers !  Space opera following Tarquin Mercator, a geologist and member of a powerful family whose mining  may be responsible for the destruction of habitable planets. While on on an expedition to a new planet, he will cross paths with Naira Sharp, a revolutionist who disguises herself as Tarquin's bodyguard to put an end to this fateful expedition. 
Overall I liked this book!!  The world building was great with queernorm elements that I always love to see, and it was definitely one of my favourite things about this book.  I really liked the plot too especially the sentient parasites as the antagonist and how it slowly invaded the humans. There's a really element of terror about it that also echoes what we have in real life with viruses and pandemics.  The main characters were both compelling to read through their own point of views , and I did like that some side characters also had their own chapters so it gave us a more complete understanding of the events.  However, I felt some world building elements weren't explained enough while others where too detailed, or explained too late into the story. The overall pacing of the story was a bit off too, some events happened too quickly while other parts were too convoluted and could have been slimmed down, especially the first half of the book. Also there wasn't enough angst and conflict in the romance and concerning one of the character's changing sides, it went a bit too quickly for my liking.  The writing was pretty good, with some nice turns of phrase but sometimes a bit superfluous.
Despite these elements I disliked, I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy. 

Dystopian horror mystery following Enka  who meets a genius artist called Mathilde at art school, striking a friendship with her, but before she can make a career, marries into a family who develops various technologies including one where a brain can be downloaded and uploaded into another carrier.  Soo I liked it though a bit less than the authors first book.  The writing style is still gorgeous and lush with some great descriptions.  There was a distance to it because of the narration style and the time compression that didn't make me more emotionally attached to the main character, Enka. She was compelling in that she was fully formed with positive and negative traits, to be honest she felt more like an anti-heroine to me. That being said this was written in first person, so it definitely enhanced the unlikeable/unreliable narrative.  But because of that distance, the twists didn't really hit me as they should have especially regarding one of the characters, the reveal felt too quick and too abrupt.  I really like the worldbuilding surrounding the technology aspect and the way the art world was portrayed (with that sense of pretentiousness that sometimes is present especially with rich people). The themes developed about technology and art, their interconnections, felt very à propos when you see what is happening in our world today.  In terms of mood though, it felt less horror and more weird fiction than I thought it would be. Overall, despite my reservations about this book I'll look forward to read more of Ling Ling ‘s work. 

Dystopian literary novel written in the 90s and following Lauren, an African American teenager who lives inside a gated community in California in the years 2020s, where society has all but collapsed and chaos reigns.  I was especially attracted to this book after seeing a tweet during the California fires earlier this year, showing an excerpt of the novel.  Overall this was a very good read. I loved the world building, quite prescient in anticipating many of our problems today (climate change, political and social unrest). Bleak yet ultimately hopeful, in the character's will to survive and thrive beyond the atrocities, I did like the discussion and themes developed by the author like survival, climate change, systemic and individual violence, drug addiction, racial/social inequality, government corruption, religion, reshaping god/faith etc (though it didn't particularly touched me being an atheist) etc. 
That being said, I wasn't a fan of Lauren almost “Emotionless” tone to her voice, even if it was like a reverse image of her ability as hyperempathy, the diary entries felt more like stating a list of facts and not living the situations. I also wished we saw more of her abilities during the entirety of the novel.  One of the relationship has a huge age gap that gave me the ick to be honest. 
Still I'll probably read the sequel to see how the character's story evolved. 

4.5 stars  Mystery thriller with element of dark academia following Jessica who goes to her college reunion desperate to show her group of friends that her success despite the terrible tragedy that stuck during their last year as student. 
Soo I kind of devoured this in a single day.  This felt like watching horrible people in a train wreck in slow motion, not really caring about what happened to them but being hella entertained.  The plot was pretty straightforward but most of the twists were good and others felt a bit flat to me.  The characters were definitely in the gray area, full of flaws but compelling enough for me to keep reading despite being baffled about most of their choices and thought process.  I really really liked the prose, and the pacing was well executed, I didn't felt bored one second even during the flashbacks and I thought nothing felt too abrupt or dragged out. 
Overall a very entertaining page turner, since it's my first read by this author I'll definitely check out her other books. 

Since the spoiler feature didn't seem to be working, beware !
Historical horror following Esty Baucarne an academic who, in hopes of being published, reads through the diary of her ancestor Arthur Beaucarne, a Lutheran priest who recounted his encounter with a Blackfeet called Good Stab in the early 20th century and their ties to a historical tragedy.


So this was such a great book. My second read of Stephen Graham Jones's work, this had all the qualities I liked from his previous novel I had read (My Heart is A Chainsaw). I loved his ability to craft a fast paced interesting story, full of cultural references, with compelling and complex characters, written in a unique voice, almost stream of consciousness like, intimate but universal at the same time. I loved how the three main points of view were so distinct to one other, each adopting a particular, narrative style language and vocabulary that perfectly showed the characters' cultural heritage and setting, with no held holding too. There were some truly gory, bizarre and creepy moments, upping the horror atmosphere beyond historical facts, at times mixing it with supernatural elements.  I loved SGJ's portrayal of vampirism as a sort of disease (?) that transforms its bearer to whatever he's drinking from. After Good Stab becomes a vampire, he is portrayed as being traumatised by what he has become, what he has to do to survive, but also by the alienation and marginalisation from his community and people, so these parts were equally horrifying and emotional to read. This allegory of vampirism was framed and reinforced by the historical themes : the horrors of genocide, colonisation, (cultural) imperialism and forced assimilation of the indigenous populations by white colonisers into to the newly formed USA. It was also very informative read for I was ignorant of the main tragedy depicted here (ie The Marias Massacre). Pacing wise, I felt the beginning of the book was a bit too slow and hard to get into but afterwards it was a breeze once I settled into the story. 


Ever since I watched (finally) Sinners the other day at the cinema, I had wanted to consume more Vampire inspired fiction, but personally I found Vampires a bit boring, unless it features PoC and Queer Vampires (Blade, Interview with the Vampire tv show, Castlevania), or mixed in another genre (like Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust has scifi elements to it) because these elements had way more interesting layers to these mythic creatures, and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter definitely scratched that itch.  I'll definitely read SGJ's other books, with the next one being possibly The Only Good Indians as I've got it on my physical tbr.

4.5 stars  Second book in the space opera Waystation trilogy, this continues the events of the previous as the different characters brace themselves for the arriving of a mysterious enemies. 
I loooooved this as much as the first book.  The author does such a great job with the world building and I loved the type of big bad enemies the characters are confronted with.  The characters are still compelling in their struggles and arcs though some more than others. I especially liked Niole (queennnn also her relation with Serric is developing in a very interesting direction I'm looking forward to it) and Rivus (his relationship with his best friend was properly angsty just as I like it) PoVs. Loved reading Alvara's parts which were creepy and added an horror element, Ridley's was interesting plot wise but the sapphic yearning was the best part, Kojan wasn't my favourite but I do like his friendship with Eleion.  Plot wise this was great though I felt some elements were developed too quickly.  Still I'm definitely looking forward to reading the third book. 

Translated horror novella about a screenwriter who rented a house in the mountains with his family trying to finish his next screenplay but   has trouble with remembering the layout of the house and with what he wrote in his journal. Me after finishing this book, looking like the emoji I with swirling eyes (😵‍💫) literally starring at the wall wondering wtf did i just read.. Soooo this was a very quick read (technically could be done in one sitting), and I preferred the atmosphere and plot rather than the characters which were more annoying than compelling. I do like time/space glitches in fiction especially when it's treated as horror, and I feel here the nightmarish atmosphere was perfectly rendered by the author. 
There was a nervous and anxious energy to the writing: no quotation marks, short sentences, cuts in the middle of a sentence, the repetition of words, fragments of phrases mixed together, no commas etc all contributed to make this reading experience even more dizzying, to parallel what happens to the main character.
Overall great psychedelic horror atmosphere but I didn't care about the characters. I'm curious to see how the movie adaptation looks like. 

4.75 stars Literary translated fiction with elements of magical realism and mystery, foloows an unnamed Japanese doctorate doing her art history thesis in Germany during COVID. As she welcomes the ghost of a friend who disappeared in the 2011 Tohaku earthquake/tsunami tragedy, she starts to feel detached from the current time/space, overwhelmed by memories of her own experiences of 2011. 
What an incredible read this was ! It had an hypnotic, lush writing. Light on plot, it felt more like a gorgeous meditation on memories, history, iconography and iconology, symbolism, grief, trauma, art, death, objects as manifestations of a place or a person or a period. I particularly loved all the art history references.   The ending was abrupt and what lead to that felt repetitive but it felt like it paralleled the motif of the shelf so it made sense. 
There's a couple of elements that left me wanting more, and kept me from marking this a five stars (lacked something at the end, maybe some emotional impact I don't know), but I'm looking forward to read her future books. 

Literary horror novella following Laura, a paediatric nurse whose personal relationship is struggling, has nightmares of drowning and starts to see a strange figure in her real life.  I liked this book ! The story I light on plot and character arc but I think the author did a great job with setting up a horror almost gothic atmosphere. The writing was singular, with a mixture of short and long sentences without periods or semi colons, sometimes repetitive and full of metaphors. It created a sense of being in a fever dream, a dizzy feel to it that mirrored Laura's deteriorating mental state.  I feel the pacing was a bit off, with the ending a bit too abrupt and abstract.  I will definitely check out her other book since I heard good things about it from other readers I follow. 

4.25 stars.  Translated literary fiction following Shaka a young Japanese woman who has a muscle disability, moonlights as an erotica writer, tweets and studies online while living in an apartment with special care services.  This was such an informative yet entertaining read. The writer being disabled herself, this felt like a real, unadorned and unique look into the life of a woman in a ableist society. I loved Shaka as the main character, her anger, her thirst for knowledge, but also her dark humour and unashamed sexual curiosity. The author showed various themes beyond ableism/disabilities, such as power dynamics, financial privileges, abuse, reproductive rights, books, obsolescence etc  I felt the story felt a bit too short and the pacing felt a bit off, still I loved the ending, it made me gasp so hard  ! 

4.25 stars Literary translated fiction following Maggie and Kurt, who struggle to maintain their marriage, showing vignettes of their lives, and their connection to a tragic fire aboard a ferry in between Denmark and Norway. 
So this was another short read that I breeze through. I really like the sharp unadorned writing style, there were some lovely turn of phrase and emotionally vivid moments.  The main characters were compelling to read about though I felt more emotionally attached to Maggie and her daughter.  I really liked how the author touched upon various themes like relationships, feminism, capitalism, mental health, abuse, exploitation etc.  The plot itself is more chaotic, the author is showing moments in the characters lives through random flashbacks, changing points of views, including one that seems to suggest another third unnamed character. The inclusion of the ferry tragedy is also presented suddenly and it's unsure how connected the characters are, until the very last pages.  But because this is only the first volume in a series of seven, I'm really interested in seeing what happens next regarding that mystery and the large story at play. 

Literary translated fiction about a young queer woman, Leah, a traumatised orphan who struggles to integrate into her Bulgarian society, and tries to adopt a young child. 
Ooh this was a gorgeous reading. Told through short chapters and vignettes, The writing offered some gorgeous and emotional passages. The author did a great job showing the hardships of women and children, orphans, refugees, disabled and queer people who try to survive through the horrors of their lives.  This was a very short read (could be done in a single sitting) and I kind of wish it was longer as I grew so attached to Leah. The author also did a great job with the vignettes telling stories of random characters, illustrating the main themes while still able to make us care and feel for these people.   A stunning and powerful quick debut novel and I'll definitely check out her other books. 

Historical fiction loosely inspired by the life of 12th century figure of poetess (and abbess) Marie de France.  
It's sapphic and written in a lush stream of consciousness prose using the present tense so that was a point of serious interest for me in the first place. Actually, the story is Less about the work of Marie as a writer but more about her life in the abbey.  This novel read like a religious or historical chronicle where time is compressed, and the story is a stitching of moments and scenes, the author recreating an atmosphere with a distant sort of telling that has an ethereal, dreamy almost mystical quality to it. 
The main character felt compelling in her ambition to go beyond the limits imposed on her gender by the patriarchal society, though sometimes she felt unlikeable and how she changed for the better felt too late and too rushed.  I do like how she carved a place of peace, autonomy, independence for her and the other women under her care, even if some of the actions by this group of women I disliked. 
While I liked the prose itself and the atmosphere and the dark humour, but also the depiction of everyday life in the abbey, that distance in the storytelling and the telling not showing aspect of it, I didn't really have any sort of particular affection towards the main character and her companions. 
Overall a good read but with some aspects that kept me from truly loving this, I'm still looking forward to read the other book of Lauren Groff I have on my physical tbr. 

4.25 stars  Second book in the Saint of Steel quadrilogy, a Romantic high fantasy mystery, it follows another Paladin, Istvhan who is tracking the strange serial killer (from the previous book) and meets a nun, Clara, whose fellow sisters were kidnapped.  I decided to read the second book quickly after the first and overall it was another very good read!  Yet again I really liked the main characters again and the side characters were all very compelling, plus the worldbuilding is really great.  I loved that they continued the subplot of the serial killer and the clay creatures from the previous book which were truly disturbing. I also liked how the author basically reimagined the Prometheus and Galatea myth (but making it gay and horror/murder based).  The subplot with Clara and her fellow nuns who has been kidnapped, was also super interesting though it's not until later into the book we see more of that element, which disappointed me a bit.  Pacing wise unfortunately there was parts in this that really dragged on too much for my taste, especially when Istvhan and Clara travel together towards the middle of the book. Some parts didn't really added anything substantial to the plot or their relationship, also some scenes felt repetitive. Once they get to their destination, the action was more fast paced and I liked it more.   The romance part as still good though because of the pacing problems, I wasn't totally into it.  Still I'm looking forward to check out the other books in the series, though I might wait a bit before reading them. 

Romantic high fantasy mystery following Grace, a master perfumer who crosses paths with Stephen, a paladin whose god has recently died, while assassins and serial killers roam in their city. 
I absolutely devoured this novel ! The third book by T. Kingfisher I'm reading, this has all the qualities I saw in her previous books. This author has the great talent of constructing interesting stories, compelling characters and incredible world building.  This was such a page turner, the story was fast paced though i feel the mystery was resolved a bit too quickly. Still I liked the mystery itself (love anything with poisons and spies) and the serial killer was such a nice horror like touch. This particular plot element looks like it will continue onto the next books of the quadrilogy so I'm excited to read them.  I also really liked all the characters, the two main ones of course, they felt like real people but also the side characters.  I also loved the humour and the love story, everything was cozy and horny enough not to be too cringy (Romantasy or romance is not my favourite genre)  I don't think I'll wait too long to read the next books! 

3.25 stars 
Dark low fantasy horror following three friends as they to on a pilgrimage to their favourite author's house, author of a tale about a tribe of animals preparing for their festival, but what was supposed to be a simple trip takes a turn for the worst. 

This was a mixed bag for me. The theme and plot were really original and interesting. I also liked the « horror » twist to an original fable like story, the overall themes of the book. The main character Eamon was interesting enough and I liked his friendship with Mark and Caroline. To be honest the more compelling characters arrived later into the story (no spoilers), though I wished some of them were more fleshed out 
However the execution overall didn't work for me.  The writing was good technically but felt too descriptive and there was too much superfluous details. I felt it kept me from caring more about the story and characters. 
It lacked the tension and page turning feel, especially when the book twists into violent action and gore. 

All in all a very interesting world building and story but the execution left me unsatisfied.

Memoir following the author, a writer and political adviser, as she takes care of a young hare born in her country home garden during the Covid lockdown. 
This was truly a wholesome read.  The author has a lovely prose that reflects the beauty of nature and the profoundness of her experience taking care of a wild animal.    There were parts where the information felt a bit too dumped and some parts were less interesting to me but overall I think the author did mostly a good job illustrating her personal experience with more scientific facts. 
The last chapter was really emotional to read and that last sentence made me teary 🥹. 

Horror mystery with a dash of satire, magical realism, gothic fairytale and dark academia, it follows Samantha a college student in her last year of writing master degree, who becomes drawn to a clique of young creepy women calling themselves « Bunny ». 
So this is my second Mona Awad book (read Rouge in 2023 and loved it). Like my previous read, I think this author does such a great job creating a fever dream atmosphere with a dizzying, psychedelic writing. This felt like reading a train wreck happened in slow motion, full of unhinged and weird moments.  I especially liked the use of the « we » pronouns that showed the weirdness and surreal clique symbiosis.  I do love all the themes developed here like the creative process, the arrogance, hypocrisy, superficiality in art and academia. I think the author really showed this, perfectly rendering through the satire quality.   The main character was compelling enough, though I found her passivity a bit jarring at times. Also I wasn't totally convinced about  why she was attracted to the Bunnies in the first place, and fell so quickly into their clique.  The pacing felt a bit off for me, the appearance of a character could have been done a bit earlier in my opinion and the ending a bit too rushed.  Anyways, despite that I'll probably check out the sequel and other books from Mona Awad (All's Well being on my physical tbr).