lipglossmaffia's Reviews (1.52k)

All my friends who have read this book didn't enjoy it at all. I thought maybe they were being tough but Dear Alaere could have don't with 3 rounds of editing.

The writing is overly simplistic. It reads like the first draft of a manuscript. The sentence structure is weak. I particularly didn't not enjoy the transitions between scenes. I use the word, scenes, because it read like mini summaries of scenes in a screen play. Very abrupt transitions that didn't allow you settle into what was happening.

And that leads me to the content of the story. It's A LOT. But none of the issues were treated well or given attention to. The novel has sprinkles of infertility, sexual harrasment, paedophilia, toxic work environments, the ineptitude of the government, miscarriages, still births, misogyny, etc. And it's all sprinkles, while you're trying to understand that someone just raped a child, the next paragraph is talking about a character eating a snack to reward themselves for work.

It's just all over the place. I'm glad I read the book because I'm now more aware of what I don't like in a novel.

I listened to this book and I need a physical copy so I can reread it. What a trip. I loved getting to know the personalities in this novel. Can't even talk about it too much or I might drop a spoiler but this is a well written psychological thriller. Enjoyed reading it