Honestly, had I read this on paper, this might have been a 5. The narrator was great, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that I feel like the structural things that are compelling about this do not translate to being spoken aloud. Time jumps and complex motifs “click” for me much better on the page. There’s like an almost physical sensation of my brain shifting gears and “getting it”. So anyway, I’ve ordered it and look forward to reading it again in the coming months.

This book is very much my jam. I love the ecosystem of Linda’s narration and how memory and time and visualization work in her mind. There are large themes being explored that are still soft subjective; I hate it when large themes are given in prescriptive ways (Midnight Libraries, let me tell you what is correct and what is not, for instance).

It subverts coming of age in general, the potential danger of religion or rigid structure/doctrine in thought, sexual awakening, the pain, and altered states guardians and parents can inflict on children - wildly altering surprising aspects of a person. It’s about social dynamics, especially trust.

Strangely, some of the critiques I’ve often seen of this is that they don’t like… find Linda relatable or likable, presumably this also means unlikable in a “fun” way for the reader, otherwise I don’t even know what to do with that. But I feel like people miss the intentions of very fundamental structural aspects of the book. It’s intentionally unreliable narration, the characterization, and interactivity of the narration via Linda’s memory. These work in tandem with the themes to communicate really important things about the protagonist.

Even what she says her story is about, which is how some people have judged if the overall story is successful or not needs to be interrogated but seems to be taken at face value.

Overall I think this is spectacular. Very well written. Especially in that the writing, as I mentioned, lures the reader into a false sense of security about aspects of the form and subsequent implications and assumptions the reader has. And at a personal level, I just really liked that it was unsettling and haunting in a low-key way. It’s weird that some people don’t see that that is the point? Not that it’s the result of the craft nothing being applied with intent or purpose.

I hadn’t even heard of this until a Booktuber, Shaelin Writes, talked about it during multiple videos. She has great taste in books so I thought I’d give it a try. Very glad I did~

Merged review:

Honestly, had I read this on paper, this might have been a 5. The narrator was great, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that I feel like the structural things that are compelling about this do not translate to being spoken aloud. Time jumps and complex motifs “click” for me much better on the page. There’s like an almost physical sensation of my brain shifting gears and “getting it”. So anyway, I’ve ordered it and look forward to reading it again in the coming months.

This book is very much my jam. I love the ecosystem of Linda’s narration and how memory and time and visualization work in her mind. There are large themes being explored that are still soft subjective; I hate it when large themes are given in prescriptive ways (Midnight Libraries, let me tell you what is correct and what is not, for instance).

It subverts coming of age in general, the potential danger of religion or rigid structure/doctrine in thought, sexual awakening, the pain, and altered states guardians and parents can inflict on children - wildly altering surprising aspects of a person. It’s about social dynamics, especially trust.

Strangely, some of the critiques I’ve often seen of this is that they don’t like… find Linda relatable or likable, presumably this also means unlikable in a “fun” way for the reader, otherwise I don’t even know what to do with that. But I feel like people miss the intentions of very fundamental structural aspects of the book. It’s intentionally unreliable narration, the characterization, and interactivity of the narration via Linda’s memory. These work in tandem with the themes to communicate really important things about the protagonist.

Even what she says her story is about, which is how some people have judged if the overall story is successful or not needs to be interrogated but seems to be taken at face value.

Overall I think this is spectacular. Very well written. Especially in that the writing, as I mentioned, lures the reader into a false sense of security about aspects of the form and subsequent implications and assumptions the reader has. And at a personal level, I just really liked that it was unsettling and haunting in a low-key way. It’s weird that some people don’t see that that is the point? Not that it’s the result of the craft nothing being applied with intent or purpose.

I hadn’t even heard of this until a Booktuber, Shaelin Writes, talked about it during multiple videos. She has great taste in books so I thought I’d give it a try. Very glad I did~