I really wanted to be able to give this a three, but I just had so many issues with it. The pacing is so all over the place, and I have trouble uEek.
I really wanted to be able to give this a three, but I just had so many issues with it. The pacing is so all over the place, and I have trouble understanding why a large portion of the book is Veronica and Stoker at a traveling circus. It felt so weird, and I didn't understand their decision or why it was happening. The end is also ridiculous almost to the extent that it took me out of the plot because what do you mean that's what's happening?
As other reviewers have noted, Veronica is the very much a "not like other girls" main character and being stuck in her head as she reflects on just how quirky and different she is was exhausting. I wanted her to be more akin to Phryne Fisher from and instead it was really giving pick me.
I did like Stoker but, just like with the ending, his backstory was way too much.
I also had an issue with some of the writing; it tends to be more tell than show, where things are just revealed that we as the reader don't see the main character work through on the page. She just announces that she has come to some revelation, which is just ineffective writing when it comes to building and crafting a mystery.
It's awfully anti-Irish as well, which like yeah you can argue it's set in Victorian England but that doesn't mean I want to read it.
There were some parts I laughed at, and Veronica and Stoker's relationship is depicted in a way that I enjoyed, but that was all the enjoyment I really got and it wasn't enough for this book to not feel like a slog. I want to continue on in the hopes it gets better but...I fear it may not. ...more
Hmmm this is a difficult one for me. I liked the meaning and messaging within the story and there were some moments that really made me feel seen, butHmmm this is a difficult one for me. I liked the meaning and messaging within the story and there were some moments that really made me feel seen, but I wouldn't say I enjoyed this book. I thought the structure was a bit off pace, with way too much time spent on "the note" that it made the last 40% of the book feel rushed. I also thought that a *lot* of the writing was repetitive. Almost done to the same sentences being written. The book is less than 250 pages so that repetition really took me out of the story. The story is so much about these two sisters but we never really see them together on the page except in flashbacks. I wish more time had been spent developing their relationship. I also think the novel felt a bit tell-y and I could really feel Austin in those moments being like DO YOU GET IT?!
I wanted to love this a lot more than I did. I think I'm having issues with Austin's way of writing her stories because they are so insular and in the MCs' heads but also very repetitive. I had similar issues with Interesting Facts About Space....more
There are interesting aspects to this novel, and I found the reflective musings of some of the women in this apartment complex to be an interesting loThere are interesting aspects to this novel, and I found the reflective musings of some of the women in this apartment complex to be an interesting look at the demands and expectations put on families and mothers in South Korea. It feels very much in the same vein as Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 , in the way that it's looking at gender differences and roles in the household. I liked it, but wish there was more of a balance between the POVs. There were a couple of the women that I never really felt like I got to know. ...more
This has a lot of elements that work for me: it's an isolated, closed circle mystery on a mountain in the middle of winter with a cast of characters oThis has a lot of elements that work for me: it's an isolated, closed circle mystery on a mountain in the middle of winter with a cast of characters out of Knives Out. Yes, yes, and yes. This worked for me! The flashbacks didn't always work for me, and I wish the main character had more characterization, but overall, I had fun with this one. I do hate the title. It's so boring. ...more
I was going to give this two stars but that would be doing a disservice to every other book I've given two stars.
This book is bad. It reads like a poI was going to give this two stars but that would be doing a disservice to every other book I've given two stars.
This book is bad. It reads like a poorly edited No Sleep episode.
The plot is repetitive and hits the reader over the head with What It All Means ((view spoiler)[ DO YOU GET IT THE LABYRINTH IS DEPRESSION (hide spoiler)]), the characterization is next to zero, and the writing? Oof. It's not flower, purple, or pretentious writing. It's just bad writing. It's opaque to the point that the words mean absolutely. nothing and you can't distinguish what's happening. Just because you can pick the most archaic word to mean something doesn't mean that you should -- which is obvious? What editor allowed this and why? There's a way to pull off mimicking the horrors of the labyrinth and this just isn't it.
This paragraph is probably technically spoiler territory, but I don't care, because I think people who have depression should know what they're getting into with this book. I did not think the representation of depression here was well done. While I'm certain that people feel the same way the main character does, reiterating that medicine or professionals can't help you but the love of a stranger who gave you blowjob in a subway station can is certainly not the takeaway I was expecting and I didn't appreciate it. (view spoiler)[ OR it ends with the main character slitting through their in the station and becoming a part of the liminal space. I honestly think this ending could have worked in the context of the story except the choose your own adventure style of writing completely took away from the gravity of that ending. (hide spoiler)]
The entire subplot about the elevator game was stupid and how the book discussed Elisa Lam was disrespectful. I'm going to need horror writers to have a crumb of decorum when they're speaking about real tragedies because real people are affected by those real tragedies and you just look like a fucking asshole.
And, at the end of the day, I'm left wondering what the point was of this story. What did it really bring to the table except poor depression representation disguised as criminally underused cosmic horror and an ending that was 1000% the worst way to end this book?
It only took me like an hour to read this but that's an hour of my life I'll never get back.
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