the thing about collecting everything an author has ever written about a subject as broad as "art," as she wrote it with no future awareness of its lothe thing about collecting everything an author has ever written about a subject as broad as "art," as she wrote it with no future awareness of its looming collection, is that you definitionally are kinda taking the good with the bad.
i'm not new york-y, in so many ways: i don't pay a lot in rent, i'm not adventurous, i stay inside a lot, and i don't know how to even begin to understand abstract art. i don't think i'm above it. quite the opposite. i would never be like "my four year old could create this painting / bash this barbie's head in / create this sculpture that is a talking refrigerator." i'm closer to the four year old — it just goes over my head.
i loved the parts of this that included maggie nelson in conversation with interesting people, including those i hadn't heard of and those i had. i loved the parts that were explorations of things i know, or of books.
but for me, there is only so much blood and sh*t and gore and violence smashed into a canvas or a polaroid or film recording i can bear.
bottom line: i always love maggie nelson but she is way cooler than me. this was made up of exclusively the cooler than me parts.
this one is nice and has some moments of being more than that, but it's overall disappointingly one note:i can't stop reading short story collections.
this one is nice and has some moments of being more than that, but it's overall disappointingly one note: these could run together, a series of quotidian moments and strangely abrupt endings. i enjoyed reading this at times, but it won't stick with me.
sorry.
bottom line: my favorite thing about short story collections is that you never know what's next. that wasn't true of this one....more
in the acknowledgments of this book, the author says he wrote "the type of angry that still leaves room for love." this book is exquisitely, desperatein the acknowledgments of this book, the author says he wrote "the type of angry that still leaves room for love." this book is exquisitely, desperately angry, justifiably so, but we end well before it seems like we've found the love.
this is a book with a lot of great ideas and a lot of great feelings that spends its energy on the wrong ones. in its synopsis, it seems like it's the story of a girl with superpowers, who can level cities and see the future. really, it's the story of her brother, who is incarcerated — which is a better story.
in truth, the sci fi element of this book takes away from its reality, as does its playfulness with time and fantasy and perspective. in its moments of clear-eyed storytelling, it is striking and raw, but it more often is bogged down in so many literary devices and plots that distract.
i would read more from this author, and i'd hope it isn't genre fiction.
the worst part of this romance book is the romance.
the best part of this book is: it's genre-bending. it's bantery. it's filled with unforgettable chathe worst part of this romance book is the romance.
the best part of this book is: it's genre-bending. it's bantery. it's filled with unforgettable characters and a cool flower shop and a lovely setting in harlem. it is unrealistic in literally every way but most of the time that is fine too.
but i didn't like the love story, which is insta, and which is the story. no matter what the surroundings i can never seem to get past that one trope. it is my kryptonite.
i had so much fun with the rest of this! but not with the biggest part.
toni morrison books are like cookies (i tried and failed to have just one).
this is the second book in the beloved trilogy, and therefore i had to readtoni morrison books are like cookies (i tried and failed to have just one).
this is the second book in the beloved trilogy, and therefore i had to read it after beloved, or at least theoretically did the Right Thing in doing so, but i wish i was weird and random and quirky and read them out of order.
like beloved, this explores the aftermath of a striking act of violence among loved ones, with unique perspective and writing you have to work to earn the reward of understanding. but unlike beloved, its inspiration (the titular jazz) and its characters aren't for me, and i loved its predecessor so much that this was always going to be a tough sell.
my new favorite niche subgenre is japanese literary fiction about cats.
if my family group chat were run through a poetic writing machine, it'd be the my new favorite niche subgenre is japanese literary fiction about cats.
if my family group chat were run through a poetic writing machine, it'd be the dog version of this book.
this is 140 pages of obsession about a pet, which is excessively relatable to anyone who has ever sworn up and down their dog / cat / bird / whatever has a full and inarguable human personality if you just OBSERVE.
this is very lovely-ly written, but felt almost too relatable to me–almost to the point of bland/one note. also i caught myself comparing it to if cats disappeared from the world, which is an impossible standard.
but it was a good time!
bottom line: pets have personalities. that's it....more
magical dark academia horror about scary girls...it felt fated that i would like this book.
and i did. for a while.
in fact, i LOVED!!!! the first pagesmagical dark academia horror about scary girls...it felt fated that i would like this book.
and i did. for a while.
in fact, i LOVED!!!! the first pages of this — so atmospheric and intriguing, and unlike anything i'd read since ninth house, a book high i've been chasing for years.
unfortunately i do believe that 3 characters is too many to follow this closely and with unique points of view, that we embarked on our plot too quickly, and that there was so much gore and grossness and vomit as to reduce the impact of the ultimate climax.
similarly the ending was sweet, but these characters leaned too heavy into their stereotypes to be really memorable. that's what happens when we have too many to follow: we end up with The Rebel, The Witch, and The Nerd.
but contrary to all the complaining i just did...i'm going to follow this author.
bottom line: a lot of good! not enough. but a lot.
i want every mystery novel to make me feel totally stumped and also like the smartest amateur detective on earth. so i'm not asking for much.
just kiddi want every mystery novel to make me feel totally stumped and also like the smartest amateur detective on earth. so i'm not asking for much.
just kidding, i'm asking for too much.
this was formatted like a bunch of files, which was fun, except some files are by definition boring.
other than that this was a good time: is it a cult? is it magic? is it institutional failures?
the ultimate reveal on this mystery felt overly complex and disappointing, as did the ending itself, but i by and large had a good time reading this book, and i guessed some but not all.
which is more than i can say for a lot of mysteries.
bottom line: i had an okay time, and i'll take it.
the background: i have decided to become a genius.
to accomplish this, i'm going to work my way through the collecmy becoming-a-genius project, part 26!
the background: i have decided to become a genius.
to accomplish this, i'm going to work my way through the collected stories of various authors, reading + reviewing 1 story every day until i get bored / lose every single follower / am struck down by a vengeful deity.
we're approaching the third anniversary of my commencement of this project and also i have not undertaken an installment of it in several months, so this is an exciting event.
DAY 1: THE PARTY starting this whole thing off on a real "men are trash" note.
and ending the first story (which had many witticisms and clever turns of phrase) on a real "cheesy dialogue" note. rating: 3
DAY 2: A PLACE IN THE COUNTRY hell is a teenage girl!!! rating: 3.5
DAY 3: VITTORIO the guiding philosophy of this story is one i agree with (that women are very beautiful and know everything nearly before it happens). rating: 3.5
DAY 4: IN ONE'S OWN HOUSE ignoring everything i'm supposed to be paying attention to in this one to be incredibly disturbed by the idea of being a wealthy widow whose two adult sons and daughter in law STILL LIVE IN HER HOUSE. rating: 3.5
DAY 5: VILLA ADRIANA lately everything i pick up seems like it's set in italy. at first this was fun because in 2ish weeks i'll be in italy, but now like anything else it's getting old. rating: 3
DAY 6: CLIFFS OF FALL well, it's been 3 weeks and i've taken a full whirlwind trip through europe during which i initially (delusionally) thought i'd be keeping up this project, but...
obviously i didn't. but this was a nice way to resume! rating: 3.5
DAY 7: WEEKEND birthday story. this one has to be good.
couples are so evil. you can spend your whole life single and then finally give in to a relationship and suddenly you're wickedly sympathetic to anyone who doesn't share your plight. rating: 3.5
DAY 8: HAROLD such a bummer to be on a good story streak and then have one that's incontrovertibly meh. it feels inappropriate to be able to obviously tell what a story is trying to do while seeing that it isn't doing it...like someone whose skirt is tucked up in their underwear. rating: 2.5
DAY 9: THE PICNIC a sequel story!
to be honest i am blown away with myself for remembering the names of characters in a short story i read a month ago. rating: 3.5
DAY 10: THE WORST PART OF THE DAY hope the answer here is "waking up."
in spite of the fact that this story says its title about 11 times (see day 8), none of those times is waking up. rating: 3
DAY 11: NOTHING IN EXCESS this is like a satire of corporate life if the satire had to keep excusing itself to explain itself to you. rating: 2.5
DAY 12: THE FLOWERS OF SORROW not a sequel story... rating: 2.5
DAY 13: THE MEETING well. it appears that this whole section (titled, a bit obviously, PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES) is a set of stories about the same people at the same company.
god help me. rating: 2.5
DAY 14: SWOBODA'S TRAGEDY i confess to looking ahead to see how many stories i still have yet to spend in this terrible awful "Organization" and i am demoralized to see the answer is 5.
i'll be tolerating these well into next week. rating: 2.5
DAY 15: THE STORY OF MISS SADIE GRAINE this is a story about a person's name who, when referenced in the last story, entered into a coquettish parenthetical about how sadie was a person in and of herself and we might be hearing HER story someday.
sigh. lucky us. rating: 2.5
DAY 16: OFFICIAL LIFE i did appreciate this story for agreeing with what i've always said: that it's actually tuesdays (not mondays) that are the worst day of the week.
but not for much else. rating: 2.5
DAY 17: A SENSE OF MISSION and so we beat on...boats against the current....
these never do stick the landing either. rating: 2.5
DAY 18: THE SEPARATION OF DINAH DELBANCO what joy...the final installment of this section. rating: 2.5
DAY 19: WOOLLAHRA ROAD with great relief and gratitude we move our way into the UNCOLLECTED / UNPUBLISHED section, and i hope i'm not soon saying "i see why."
phew. rating: 3.5
DAY 20: FORGIVING this story should have been clichéd first and foremost, and maybe it was, but all i know is i felt completely charmed by it. rating: 4
DAY 21: COMFORT i really can't believe THESE are the unpublished / uncollected ones. after all we've been through... rating: 4
DAY 22: OUT OF ITEA okay...well this has already taught me a new word if nothing else.
oh. never mind. it's a place, not a type of shrub. anyway this was fairly lovely. rating: 3.5
DAY 23: THE EVERLASTING DELIGHT that's what they call me. because of my unparalleled conversational skills, obviously.
i love House Talk. rating: 3.5
DAY 24: THE STATUE AND THE BUST extremely cool to be a smart and effortlessly charming woman who manages to mildly embarrass some random guy while simultaneously not thinking of him at all... rating: 3.5
DAY 25: LEAVE IT TO ME this one felt needlessly confusing. but maybe i'm just irritable. rating: 3
DAY 26: SIR CECIL'S RIDE oh men and women and young and old and so on and so forth. rating: 3
DAY 27: LE NOZZE i'd love to someday love anything as much as shirley hazzard loves italy.
this one was very romantic, and also not italian. whoops. rating: 4
DAY 28: THE SACK OF SILENCE what a nice note to end on: just banter city. rating: 3.5
OVERALL so much of this — the stories that feel like small captured moments of everyday life — is perfectly wonderful. unfortunately, bizarrely, inexplicably, a whole central swath of this book was what i can only refer to as the horrible corporate section.
i enjoyed this, for the most part, except when i detested it utterly. rating: 3...more
it was, in fact, a totally fine enemies to lovers story, featuring two peoplethis was a satisfactory romance.
what is was not was when harry met sally.
it was, in fact, a totally fine enemies to lovers story, featuring two people who suck (which is not a criticism). i just...don't know why it had to claim itself to be a gender-swapped retelling of when harry met sally.
the only commonality is that this is enemies to friends to lovers set in new york. these people are not harry, nor are they sally. there is no carrie fisher. there is no magazine writer with mustache. there is no b-plot superior romance. and nothing is up to that impossible par.
so i wish it wasn't set in the first place!
bottom line: read this book and pretend it has no claim upon that perfect movie.
i could only read myths and fairytales for my whole life.
but maybe not like this?
this was a strange one.
it is a somewhat chronological, locationally i could only read myths and fairytales for my whole life.
but maybe not like this?
this was a strange one.
it is a somewhat chronological, locationally disparate collection of british-related myths and legends, each given a chapter in which the first half is a mostly unchanged telling and the second half talks about the author walking through hills near where the mythological act is thought to have happened.
i wanted these to build on each other, but instead i had to struggle to place myself both in time and in setting, figure out what the connection was to the last one, if any, and work out what was true and what was a fairly inexplicable and whimsical addition from the author.
her art was very cool, and the writing style was easy to follow, but i'm not sure who this book was for? i had a beginner's understanding of these myths, and i somehow felt like i knew them too well and not well enough for this book.
i liked it more at the beginning, but by the end, the charm had worn off and i was confused about the point, which never seemed to come together.
my heart is broken. i feel like i'm dying. the world holds nothing for me anymore.
i'm three starring this book.
i adore emily henry, and i have since hmy heart is broken. i feel like i'm dying. the world holds nothing for me anymore.
i'm three starring this book.
i adore emily henry, and i have since her magical realism days. i'd happily read her to-do lists if she released them once a year, and i'm sure even those would have more banter and loveliness and whimsy than your average full-length release just by virtue of being written by her. i'd say the same about her grocery lists, but i already do read those. (the woman writes a mean substack.)
there were a few things i didn't love about this book. it tries to fit so much into a few hundred pages: our protagonist, daphne, is left by her fiance weeks before her wedding, causing her to: move in with miles, her fiance's new girlfriend's ex-boyfriend; realize she has no friends; begin a quest to find herself; get over the fiancé and fall in love with miles; join a variety of community groups and neighborhood activities; make her current job her dream job; repress some CLEAR mommy issues i thought we were going to address, and fully get over her daddy issues.
all of this is happening so much.
it comes at a cost, which is that typical emily henry magic (and i don't just mean the bygone magical realism i mourn every day and never shut up about).
this book is not quite as funny — jokes feel forced, sometimes to the point that you can only identify something as reaching for funny because the character "joked" or "played along" instead of "said."
it is not quite as polished, with writing feeling a bit unconfident, full of words italicized for emphasis and, you know, the whole verbs that aren't said thing. (there are a LOT of dialogue attribution words that aren't "said.")
and the characters have none of their usual better-version-of-reality charm. miles' nick miller archetype would never work for me personally, but my real issue with him is that his character traits fade once we're supposed to see him as a romantic prospect. our side characters, ashleigh and julia, feel like interchangeable joke-bots to the point of being vaguely threatening. (when they pop up on page in tandem i feel a sense of unease.)
and to be honest, daphne has no self awareness. because there's so much happening in this book, everything has to be incredibly simple: daphne's issue with her dad, AND daphne's issue with miles, AND daphne's friends' issue with daphne all has to be the same. it makes for some moments of ridiculousness — like how can daphne be melting down about being wronged on the same city block where she realized several hours earlier she had wronged someone in that exact same way? how could she be so unwilling to give the grace she expects for herself? and how could emily henry set scenes of this book on a cherry farm in michigan when she knew what it would do to me, specifically?!
sorry. that's the last time i'll bring up magical realism. i think.
ol' daph just has too much to figure out about herself. i think this abandonment would be so completely traumatic even if she HADN'T built her entire life around her fiancé only to be left entirely alone, and even if it WASN'T eerily similar to her daddy issues, and even if she DIDN'T have a bunch of unresolved things going on up in ye olde memory palace, that the last thing she'd be doing is sticking around someone else's hometown flirting with her new roomie.
especially since what she ends up doing is repeating the exact same cycle with no awareness at all.
and in the worst offense, miles' illiterate texting style reminded me of the himbos i used to date (date doing a lot of heavy lifting here) in my wayward youth. which should be a jailable offense in and of itself.
bottom line: like anything emily henry has ever written, this is better than a lot of books. it just isn't better than most emily henry ones.
---------------------- currently-reading update
me arriving to the world's biggest emily henry fan contest but my competition is all of goodreads
(GUYS IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING)
thanks to the publisher for the e-arc
---------------------- tbr review
i would like to request that no one talk to me about anything that isn't this for the next 3 to 5 business years....more
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