madgerdes's Reviews (970)

This was fun! It definitely went too hard on the ~unlikeable career woman whose cold personality is a response to earlier difficulties with personal/family relationships~ trope for my liking at certain points, but I enjoyed the mystery and most of the main characters! Fun setting too it made me want to go kayaking 

I was about to write an eloquent review of this but then I saw Hank green get in line to board the same flight as me and now I’m nervous 

Some of this was biting and hilarious, but it mostly went no where for me. Maybe would have been better suited as a short story?

I went into this with an open mind, and I wanted to enjoy it. There was little academic rigor behind the claims the author makes and there were fundamental flaws in some of his logic. I learned a lot, but I think this book is way more memoir/personal anecdotes than research/social critique  which is not necessarily how it’s marketed 

This book was beautifully written and at times the prose was almost haunting. The listless/detached writing style worked for some parts of the book, but it sometimes came across as monotone rather than defeated. Still, I’m glad I read this book 

Hannah pls read this book expeditiously 

This was a pleasant surprise! I wanted a relatively low stakes audiobook to listen to while commuting and doing chores, but this book ended up pulling me in. The plot wasn’t nearly as predictable as I expected – which probably says more about my internalized misogyny than the state of fiction marketed towards women. I would definitely recommend!! 

This one was a disappointment for me. I really wanted to enjoy it - I tend to enjoy books with parallel story lines (ie, characters of the past and present connected in some way) and the themes of this one were intriguing so I was excited. Unfortunately, I struggled to connect to the plot, characters, and purpose of the story. The prose was beautiful, but at times too self-aware and over the top. I don’t need books to be plot driven to enjoy them, but it felt like nothing substantial happened in this book. Overall this felt half baked, like the promising start of a fuller story. I remember feeling similarly after reading Kwon’s other book, so I think her writing just isn’t for me!

I really did enjoy this BUT I let out the biggest oh brother when

the metaphor was the grief inside us all along

and the plot twist pretty obvious but overall a good audiobook listen 

I picked this up on a whim at the library, and I'm glad I did! It was a bit slow to start, but I appreciated the slow build once the plot began to pick up. This book had me on the edge of my seat towards the end until it didn't. In my opinion, the ending left a lot to be desired. Not in an "I can't understand metaphor or can't find beauty in uncertain endings" way, but in an "okay, you're going to drag us all this way for THAT to be the ending" way. This book does make me want to read more feminist/queer horror, and I'll keep an eye out for any other books Gish writes.