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dreamingpages's review
challenging
tense
fast-paced
0.25
I hated this book with a passion.
I despised the writing style. The plural first person perspective (we) was confusing and exhausting. Every other paragraph starting with "the Clinic of" such-and-such was incredibly tedious and rapidly lost it's humor. The Wildfire excerpts felt so pointless that, after the first two, I just skipped over them entirely.
The book was supposed to be about grief, but I feel like maybe only a third of it actually focused on that. The rest was filled with disjointed themes of queerness, online dating, absent mothers, and consumerism commentary that had nothing to do with the main plot or each other. The plural first person removed any sense of emotional connection to Coral resulting in a complete lack of concern for anything happening to her. It was more like dispassionately observing a lab rat than experiencing the pain of loss with her.
The subplots went nowhere. The main plot's big climax was cut short and the reader is denied experiencing the consequences of Coral's actions or the next stage of grief.
The only reason I finished this was because I'm reading it for a book club. Do not recommend.
I despised the writing style. The plural first person perspective (we) was confusing and exhausting. Every other paragraph starting with "the Clinic of" such-and-such was incredibly tedious and rapidly lost it's humor. The Wildfire excerpts felt so pointless that, after the first two, I just skipped over them entirely.
The book was supposed to be about grief, but I feel like maybe only a third of it actually focused on that. The rest was filled with disjointed themes of queerness, online dating, absent mothers, and consumerism commentary that had nothing to do with the main plot or each other. The plural first person removed any sense of emotional connection to Coral resulting in a complete lack of concern for anything happening to her. It was more like dispassionately observing a lab rat than experiencing the pain of loss with her.
The subplots went nowhere. The main plot's big climax was cut short and the reader is denied experiencing the consequences of Coral's actions or the next stage of grief.
The only reason I finished this was because I'm reading it for a book club. Do not recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Suicide
alexiscole's review against another edition
The writing style was not what my brain needed. May come back to it another time
glizzelda's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a difficult read. I enjoyed it, but it took a lot of concentration. I think multiple entries from Wildfire were unnecessary. One entry from coral's novel would have been enough to introduce us to why the book is written the way it is. The book was entertaining though and I thought the fanfic portion was funny.
convivialcatch's review against another edition
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
quietmachine's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
4.25