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3.22 AVERAGE
3.22 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
sad
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Refreshingly fast paced with adept and nuanced character-driven narrative. This would be a 4.5 if not for all of the dream exposition. I mean there are pages and pages of it.
Does this book even really exist? The Regrets is a bizarre and wonderful meditation on the relationship between existing and participating in the world, as well as the shape and impact of desire. I would’ve liked the metaphysical parts to be more defined, but it was fitting that nearly everything in this book was on the verge of being transparent.
Y’all had me at “ghost sex”. And there’s like...a LOT.
This story just had me so entranced. It is entirely metaphorical and I think that’s why I couldn’t stop listening to the audio? It was odd, yes, but it was such a fucking interesting way of touching on toxic relationships and how they tend to displace you and are able to distance you from your loved ones. I mean, maybe that’s what it’s about. I’m sure everyone takes away something different from this book, but that just adds to the beauty of it!
I really did think this book was beautiful in all of its oddity and I loved it.
This story just had me so entranced. It is entirely metaphorical and I think that’s why I couldn’t stop listening to the audio? It was odd, yes, but it was such a fucking interesting way of touching on toxic relationships and how they tend to displace you and are able to distance you from your loved ones. I mean, maybe that’s what it’s about. I’m sure everyone takes away something different from this book, but that just adds to the beauty of it!
I really did think this book was beautiful in all of its oddity and I loved it.
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book took me by the horns from when I saw it at the bookstore.
Delightfully strange, a little sexy, and surprisingly deep, The Regrets reveals what it’s like to be a woman living in a lackluster life who suddenly falls in love with something that was never even there.
This is one of those books that I feel like told the story of a narrative that already lived in my head. The main character constantly comes back to the idea of “the daydream” which she never really explains, but conveys the idea of the dissatisfaction of her real life whilst the life she’s made up in her head is so, so much better. “The daydream” is something we’re all too familiar with. Bonnaffons just gave it a name.
The kicker is that The Daydream is fulfilled by a literal ghost: a manipulative and disappearing ghost of a man. The idea of him and his otherworldly-ness is what is so appealing to the main character, and what are we if not all a little infatuated with the idea of being privy to some fantastical world? Never mind their completely abusive relationship—they represent what it is to be obsessed with the abstraction of love, passion, and most of all, ghosts (in the most metaphoric sense).
The only pitfall of this one was the ending. I wanted more. It wrapped up quickly and without the finality that I craved. He just... disappeared.
Which was fair, I suppose. He is a ghost.
All around, The Regrets felt deeply personal. Bonnaffons surrealist take on falling in love with nothing will hit you directly in the chest.
Delightfully strange, a little sexy, and surprisingly deep, The Regrets reveals what it’s like to be a woman living in a lackluster life who suddenly falls in love with something that was never even there.
This is one of those books that I feel like told the story of a narrative that already lived in my head. The main character constantly comes back to the idea of “the daydream” which she never really explains, but conveys the idea of the dissatisfaction of her real life whilst the life she’s made up in her head is so, so much better. “The daydream” is something we’re all too familiar with. Bonnaffons just gave it a name.
The kicker is that The Daydream is fulfilled by a literal ghost: a manipulative and disappearing ghost of a man. The idea of him and his otherworldly-ness is what is so appealing to the main character, and what are we if not all a little infatuated with the idea of being privy to some fantastical world? Never mind their completely abusive relationship—they represent what it is to be obsessed with the abstraction of love, passion, and most of all, ghosts (in the most metaphoric sense).
The only pitfall of this one was the ending. I wanted more. It wrapped up quickly and without the finality that I craved. He just... disappeared.
Which was fair, I suppose. He is a ghost.
All around, The Regrets felt deeply personal. Bonnaffons surrealist take on falling in love with nothing will hit you directly in the chest.
WOW. This book was so unique and so amazingly original. I love the concept of a new romance as a haunting and disappearing thing. Bonnaffons definitely understands the complicated nature of grief as it exists not only when someone dies, but even as someone is beginning to leave our own lives. This has quite a few descriptions of graphic sexual encounters which are definitely empowering and fulfilling but important to keep in mind for readers who might find those triggering. So happy to have found this author!