[UPDATE: I made a mistake in my initial review. The sounds that are in between chapters is throat singing from those who are of Inuit heritage, if I'm not mistaken, and I just wanted that to be known because I wasn't aware of it when I read this book.]

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ORIGINAL REVIEW:

This book has really strong themes that was tackled in a very upfront way but it was not for me. And that's fine, I acknowledge it, I will still recommend this.

tw//

Spoiler

sexual abuse, child abuse, explicit content

This is another case of me not being aware of the trigger warnings as well as not really getting along with the writing style.

“We have no power over a universe we can barely comprehend.”

Going into this, I thought there would be a music aspect somewhere but reading the synopsis again I realized that they were talking about the author and not the actual book.

It’s impossible not to face the issues that this book is presenting while reading. Which I think is it's strong point. It has so many positive messages to tell but it was not my vibe. The writing style is very descriptive and metaphorical but I think at one point it was too much for me. It also wrapped up on a note that left me unsatisfied.

I really wished I could have been more attached. It was engaging, at times, to follow how they lived their lives in a place that I wasn't familiar with but was interested in.

But I kept falling asleep while reading this and the story read longer than it actually was. Since I didn't feel much towards the characters, I felt detached from the conflict and the intense parts. I knew they were very intense and serious but I couldn't relate to them emotionally. I really wish I could though because a lot of things happen that just made me think.

The book tackles very heavy and serious issues. Metaphors were used but there were were specific times when I was not quite sure if that specific thing was still a metaphor. Plus there are sound effects at the end of every chapter that sounds very weird when you’re listening at 1.85x speed. It sounded like someone (or a wolf?) breathing really hard.

At the end of the day, I just did not vibe with the style but I see how a lot of people would like this if you are looking for a very hard hitting adult contemporary, especially one that deals with topics like abuse. If you liked Bunny by Mona Awad, this has somewhat similar vibes and plot/writing tools used.

“If only healing was the way of the world.””