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454 reviews by:
cowboyjonah
3.5 stars
While this book is formatted very uniquely and features some beautiful prose, I found that some of the lines felt disingenuous or pretentious. Overall I don't really like the whole "sad-girl existentialism" aesthetic, I feel like it's relatable to those who align with it and cliquey to those who want to engage with the content while not adapting to the new genre.
I did really appreciate the use of color and mixed media in this collection. It was a visually very appealing book and I had fun flipping through it. I would be interested to read a novel by Warren. While some of her poems made me feel nostalgic and had a haunting vibe, more so than not I was not as impacted as I wanted to be by the works, and found it too obvious/too "cool-girl" for my taste.
While this book is formatted very uniquely and features some beautiful prose, I found that some of the lines felt disingenuous or pretentious. Overall I don't really like the whole "sad-girl existentialism" aesthetic, I feel like it's relatable to those who align with it and cliquey to those who want to engage with the content while not adapting to the new genre.
I did really appreciate the use of color and mixed media in this collection. It was a visually very appealing book and I had fun flipping through it. I would be interested to read a novel by Warren. While some of her poems made me feel nostalgic and had a haunting vibe, more so than not I was not as impacted as I wanted to be by the works, and found it too obvious/too "cool-girl" for my taste.
If you are interested/enjoyed the blade runner movies I'd recommend this. If you are not interested in/didn't enjoy the movies I wouldn't recommend it. We never find out if androids dream of electric sheep :(
What I didn't like about this book:
-Nothing is explained at ALL, not why the suicides are taking place in this town, the WHORL drug, why the two are connected, what the ritual they keep doing is, literally nothing. It doesn't even bother to explain anything.
-The characters are all the same and all super annoying. There was no point to the multiple POVs because they weren't differentiated at all. No character development or growth. Tyler is literally the worst throughout the whole book and never gets better. I didn't feel bad for any of them.
-None of the side characters are interesting/different from one another, and we never come back to them. There is no point for them to be in the story.
-SO repetitive, literally each page said the same thing. Majority of the book could have been cut out with no reprocussions to the story. Would maybe even be better as a novella.
-Not scary at all. I wouldn't classify this as a horror novel, just some weird fiction. Most of the horror element is shown through animal abuse, and is purely there for shock factor as it's never even explained why there is animal abuse. I don't care about shock factor most times but this was just done badly.
-Confusing and plotless. It started out being all about the suicides and the WHORL and ended up being about cults and rituals. Only came back to the suicides at the very end and it's still never explained. I never felt uneasy, it did not fill me with dread, nor did I find it bleak. I was just confused and annoyed. The writing is fine but nothing special to keep me entertained.
What I liked about this book:
-When it ended.
-Nothing is explained at ALL, not why the suicides are taking place in this town, the WHORL drug, why the two are connected, what the ritual they keep doing is, literally nothing. It doesn't even bother to explain anything.
-The characters are all the same and all super annoying. There was no point to the multiple POVs because they weren't differentiated at all. No character development or growth. Tyler is literally the worst throughout the whole book and never gets better. I didn't feel bad for any of them.
-None of the side characters are interesting/different from one another, and we never come back to them. There is no point for them to be in the story.
-SO repetitive, literally each page said the same thing. Majority of the book could have been cut out with no reprocussions to the story. Would maybe even be better as a novella.
-Not scary at all. I wouldn't classify this as a horror novel, just some weird fiction. Most of the horror element is shown through animal abuse, and is purely there for shock factor as it's never even explained why there is animal abuse. I don't care about shock factor most times but this was just done badly.
-Confusing and plotless. It started out being all about the suicides and the WHORL and ended up being about cults and rituals. Only came back to the suicides at the very end and it's still never explained. I never felt uneasy, it did not fill me with dread, nor did I find it bleak. I was just confused and annoyed. The writing is fine but nothing special to keep me entertained.
What I liked about this book:
-When it ended.
Important and accessible read that will make you rethink everything about how you approach feminism. Would recommend to anyone, written for white people.