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lizshayne 's review for:

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
4.0
dark funny mysterious sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

What, and I mean this with the deepest enjoyment of my experience, WHAT did I just read?
Why did it happen? What inspired Saunders to use Lincoln and the backdrop of Willie Lincoln's death? Where did these ideas come from?
Everything about this book is a bit of a fever dream and I don't know if that's what makes the meditation on life and the clinging to it possible or gets in the way of it.
It's a book about fearing death and mourning and what we lose when we lose a person. And it's also deeply deeply...something.
I nearly stopped when I realized it was a full-cast audiobook, although I'm grateful I didn't since the style of the book lends itself to the extreme oddness of changing voices. The book as a performed drama works great and I'm actually glad I encountered it in this format.