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3.22 AVERAGE
3.22 AVERAGE
I loved how creative the imagery was in this book. I wish it was longer to get into the heads of the characters more but it is a concept driven book so I still enjoyed it! Would recommend it for anyone who loves strange topics & stories. And no, I still have zero clue what the heck it’s really about.
WARNING: This book is really horny. Like, really.
The beginning of this book really sets up an interesting scene. Not completely original, but frank in its confidence of the explanations of being "not sufficiently dead", and avoiding "Regrets".
There's obviously some millennial 20-something year old post-college sex-all-the-time vibes going on and I thought this was just going to be a character trait for one person. Turns out the whole world these characters live in is full of vain 20-something year old sexaholics and it kind of felt more like a tv show than a book. I guess people like that do exist and that is fine but I didn't relate to the characters because it wasn't something I resonated with. It didn't totally tear me out of the book, but it felt pretty flat and shallow.
By the time you're in the last act, all the neat ideas set up at the beginning seemed to have vaporized and you're left drifting in a direction that doesn't really lead to any great conclusions. And I think that was the most disappointing part for me, that the focus changed so dramatically from the first couple chapters. If you put the beginning and the end side by side I don't know if you don't totally tell it was the same story.
But it was a quick read (read it in two sittings) and overall it wasn't a waste of time. It was a fun little trip into a world of characters who revolve a lot of their lives around sex than I'm used to, and sometimes that's refreshing. Ghostie undertones made it more fun.
The beginning of this book really sets up an interesting scene. Not completely original, but frank in its confidence of the explanations of being "not sufficiently dead", and avoiding "Regrets".
There's obviously some millennial 20-something year old post-college sex-all-the-time vibes going on and I thought this was just going to be a character trait for one person. Turns out the whole world these characters live in is full of vain 20-something year old sexaholics and it kind of felt more like a tv show than a book. I guess people like that do exist and that is fine but I didn't relate to the characters because it wasn't something I resonated with. It didn't totally tear me out of the book, but it felt pretty flat and shallow.
By the time you're in the last act, all the neat ideas set up at the beginning seemed to have vaporized and you're left drifting in a direction that doesn't really lead to any great conclusions. And I think that was the most disappointing part for me, that the focus changed so dramatically from the first couple chapters. If you put the beginning and the end side by side I don't know if you don't totally tell it was the same story.
But it was a quick read (read it in two sittings) and overall it wasn't a waste of time. It was a fun little trip into a world of characters who revolve a lot of their lives around sex than I'm used to, and sometimes that's refreshing. Ghostie undertones made it more fun.
DNF
Had to put it down at 27%
Thomas POV was quite enjoyable, since he is stuck in this weird limbo between life and death and he gets this instruction and rules from the Office to follow on what he could but should def not do. It was and interesting read and interpretation of what happens to us after we die.
Rachel's POV was what made me decide to not finish the book. It read like a badly written fanfiction imo and I just could get past it.
Had to put it down at 27%
Thomas POV was quite enjoyable, since he is stuck in this weird limbo between life and death and he gets this instruction and rules from the Office to follow on what he could but should def not do. It was and interesting read and interpretation of what happens to us after we die.
Rachel's POV was what made me decide to not finish the book. It read like a badly written fanfiction imo and I just could get past it.
This book was... so strange. Reading the description, I anticipated a funny, otherworldly romance. None of the characters were what I’d call like able people. This book was supposed to be humorous (one summary said “playful”), but all I felt was discomfort the entire time. At times pretentious, the first half of the book was almost entirely ghost sex and more absurdist than funny.The second half of the book wasn’t funny at all; it actually really bummed me out. And not good ghost sex - I lost count at the number of times the word “penetrate” was used. The characters seem so apathetic about all of their relationships- romantic and platonic. For whatever reason, there were three narrators. And at the end, I still had so many questions about what had happened to each of the characters. Some of the writing was nice, but all in all... I did not enjoy this book.
It’s kind of like Beetlejuice but not funny and if Winona Ryder’s character was having sex with Alec Baldwin’s character. Or like a cross between The Handbook for the Recently Deceased and erotica. Great cover, though.
Quirky, beautifully written
This was a recommendation from Ann Patchett's bookstore. I'm glad i gave it a chance; between the poetic language and exploration of existence and haunting, this was a really special book.
This was a recommendation from Ann Patchett's bookstore. I'm glad i gave it a chance; between the poetic language and exploration of existence and haunting, this was a really special book.
You know when you pick up a movie and think it's a comedy and it ends up depressing af? Like "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World"? This book is like that. Excepts instead of depressed about the plot, you are depressed about the four hours you lost reading the book which really should have been a decent short story.
It's a story of a generic white woman who's constantly out of touch from reality and a touch-starved sad boi ghost looking for peace.