I really wanted to dislike this book but about 3/4s of the way, my opinion started to change. First things first, I cannot vibe with how Moshfegh ends her stories. Even with My Year of…, I was so underwhelmed with the conclusion and I’m starting to notice a pat with this book. I went in knowing absolutely nothing and for the first half of the story I was actually dreading every page turn, but mostly because I was so anxious of where this story was going. I really enjoyed the exploration of religion and wealth and self-enlightenment; even though at times when it felt a little lost. A big problem I had with this story was that it felt like Moshfegh had a great baseline and a whole lot of actions that she wanted characters to do in a book and then she kind of just wrote some plot around those sets of actions. A little like grasping at whatever plot formed from what seems to be a like a conversation held with friends on a late night; “imagine this fantasy type of medieval town …” I think that really lends to the fact that I felt so disappointment with that ending. This book that is not afraid to explore whatever grotesque topic feels almost timid with that ending. Maybe I just wanted something completely out of left field, but I feel like I saw it coming a mile away. 

 

All this to say though, that I actually really did end up enjoying this book at the end. It felt like I was able to see through it a new lenes and I did ultimately enjoy the different explorations of one village. There was no real time allowed to start to feel comfortable (if one even can) reading from on perspective before it quickly shifts again. I must admit that I do actually enjoy reading all the things that seem to cross Moshfegh’s mind. This book leaves a gross, sticky feeling after reading and if that’s not the point, what was? The almost fairy tale feeling of this book I think really adds to the uneasiness of every action taken. And I must say, there’s almost a timeless feeling to it.

 

Will I read her next book? Yeah without a doubt. 

Perhaps I haven't read enough books like this one, but this has really stood out to me as one of the best books of my reading this year so far. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about these characters and their flaws. The writing was perfect and I truly felt captivated throughout the whole book. As soon as I closed the book, I was already thinking about when I could reread it.

Although I can definitely see the appeal of this book, it just wasn’t for me. 😓 At exactly the halfway point I lost interest and I realized that I would have enjoyed this more as a movie than read about it. 

I actually didn’t think I’d enjoy this after the first chapter and a half but damn I think it picks up at a really good pace. I wish we could have had more interaction scenes between the crew but overall I think this did an amazing job of making me care enough about the characters. I found myself physically reacting to moments and I don’t think I’ve had that reaction with my most recent readings. 

I’m not giving it 5 stars because I think I missed something and I think a reread would really solidify it’s rating. But I do think the story felt unique and did a great job of portraying, what I think, a realistic reaction to the conservation of nature.  

DAMN! But in a “really thought I wasn’t gonna be able to finish this” way. 

This book … dragssssss lmao but no in all honesty this book took what felt like forever for me to finish and I think it’s something about the descriptiveness of the book. In this it felt like paragraphs kept going and going on about things we already knew or didn’t really … care(?) to know. It could have been cut like a good 100 pages and zero of the plot would have been lost. 

All that being said I did enjoy the second half where it does pick up a good amount to keep the reader going to the end. I did also enjoy the way that the author led me to guess who it was at the beginning, question my guess, and then question that guess. The characters weren’t horrible to read about but I didn’t care for any at the end. This was promising I just really wish it was shorter so I didn’t feel like I was fighting to pay attention.

Although Harry Potter as a series overall wasn’t a big part of my childhood, the movie adaptation for Prisoner of Azkaban was. It was really cool to be able to see certain things that confused me in the movie actually connected.  

Not exactly how I remember it from my childhood. 

This was an easy, quick read. I wasn’t necessarily drawn to the characters or the plot, but I think the fact that I read it so fast just kept my momentum going. 

This felt like a book I should have loved but I really think the writing played a part in it not clicking for me. It felt a bit too shallow; as the story played out I felt a sense of “…. Okay 😕”. unfortunately forgettable even though I was hoping it’d redeem itself. 

Could be that I’ve had some mildly disappointing reads for the last few books, but I really enjoyed reading this. It wasn’t completely “oh my god I can’t put it down” but it definitely had my interest the entire way through. The writing give away just the right amount at the right moments throughout the story. 

This started off really good and I was hoping for a 4/5 read but at about 40ish% through I just lost complete interest. I think I really loved the interactions the characters had with one another and when they eventually aren’t playing off one another I realized that I had no interest in anything that happened to them. I just really wanted more interaction between them all.

This also didn’t feel super horror to me. There was a really good scene, as it picks up, that made me have a physical reaction but then it just kinda falls flat. I really loved and enjoyed Hendrix’s Southern’s Book Club and I will not given up hope that I will like another one of his books!