Mmm this went places I didn’t expect. DNF’d at 23% when it became apparent this book was gonna have violence and sex to minors. Just not in a place where I feel like reading something like that.

The premise is interesting—and I imagine may be better than audiobook, depending on how it is presented in text format—but it is really overwritten and some characters that not only become unlikeable, but actually grating. There are others that countermand this but when it swings back to them it really does feel tedious. It’s actually maybe a testament to how well written the parts that work is that I came away thinking it was alright and did not stop reading it entirely.

The narrators themselves are also pretty good. I really do wonder if this is the ideal format for the book, considering the premise. I really like the idea of annotating an existing text, and it could be presented really interestingly, maybe sell the concept better. As is, it’s fine, but I expected more from it considering the accolades of the author and the concept. Pretty sure I got this from a best books of the year list, so maybe my overall expectations were inflated as well.

The blurb and concept are totally things I would be interested in, but right off the bat I found this tropey in a bad way and I just did not like being in the head of one of the main characters, who, for the 10% of the book I made it through, just wanted to nail a chick. Somehow buddy’s inner voice was more cringe than the guy in You. I’m not joking. The dynamics of the main cast are archetypal, the bad guy feels that way so far too.

The blurb makes it sound like it’ll be subversive of the genre, and in some ways it is, just not in anyways I find compelling enough to continue with it, which sucks, because I actually think there’s a huge stake to be claimed on more HP as college students/adults in a way that isn’t The Magicians. It’s actually slightly baffling there isn’t more fiction like it, considering.

This was a weird book. I liked it! But it was certainly a bit odd, both in structure, because the story changes quite a bit and feels like a few novellas that are... I guess cohesive but also so different in terms of tropes, as well as just like all the things *spreads hands*. There’s just some wildly out there stuff that might feel more “out there” because of the way things are explained. It’s interesting and compelling and then suddenly dives into a different story and you’ve no idea where your expectations are supposed to be when it does these change ups.

Overall, I think it’s worth a read and has some interesting concepts pretty fairly well explained. There is just a lot going on, is what I’d chalk it up to. But this is a translation of older sci-fi, from what I understand, so it actually makes a lot more sense when put into that perspective. It does feel like interesting, older sci-fi, structurally.

Genuinely compelling for me, as I knew nothing at all about the “death” industry. This is the perfect framing to talk about taboo subjects embroiled in a myriad of (western) societal repressed topics. It’s companionable and earnest. Fantastic memoir structure too. The specific topics brought up align very well with the time cut out from her life being talked about, which is actually fairly rare for a memoir, imo. They tend to have two different timelines, reminiscence bouncing along the path as the overall story marches forward. While this is indicative of how memory works, it is often jarring.

The only knock against this is the humour. I am not a fan of it in 90% of everything I’ve ever read; it just does not land for me, and this is only augmented when a text is narrated. This could be a 5 star for me had it been actually funny or narrated by someone who can land jokes; either or, as I’m not sure which was the case for the humour not landing, for me. The authorial voice is just pretty heavy on it so it annoyed me often enough that it effected my overall enjoyment.

I’m not generally a fan of humour but this worked for me. I also just have always found Kline, Bening, and Crystal have a type of humour that works for me. The actual story wasn’t groundbreaking whatsoever, but there’s a couple twists and it was fine. Mostly it’s all about the jokes and those landed for me.

You have to be pretty interested in the subject because it becomes quite granular, but I really really enjoyed this. Not only is it an intersectional look at misogyny, sexism, and rape culture from a different female perspective, it’s also just really interesting. From silent films all the way up to current day, there’s a great mix of a description of why and how it’s difficult to do what they do, how their skill set is different than men, and bow ties the whole thing with quotes from actual stuntwomen throughout the time and the actual stats of stuntwomen today (surprise, it’s a abysmal). Men would rather dress up as women to do a stunt than just pay them, smh.

This is a great mix of anecdote, real data, interesting history, and a premise that I haven’t come across before. It’s a shame it isn’t more well read/reviewed, imo!