Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Tell the Machine Goodnight

There are books whose summaries manage to accurately summarize the events of the story, yet somehow not be representative of the story at all. This story is about Pearl and Rhett but the other character burn just as brightly, are just as deeply flawed, and pull the reader in just as close.

Val is a particular favorite of mine in the complexity of her characterization. I adore how Rhett is characterized as well, especially in the divergence in how he views himself and treats his loved ones. His need for control and purity expresses through severely disorder eating is so painfully real. It's hard to see Pearl expect the worst from her son, but getting to see her through the lens of something other than mother clarifies her character and the choices she makes in interesting ways.

Content Warnings

miss_vonnegut's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This was a really interesting book. I loved that it made me think about happiness in more depth. What it means, why and how we want it, and if we ever really have it--at least in the long-term. It definitely got dark at times and left me wanting to read something in the YA genre as a sort of palate cleanser. Again, it wasn't bad, just a little dark. Definitely check content warnings.

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nabe's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-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

2.0

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chaotically_katie's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

It didn’t have much of a plot, but a fascinating idea.

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shewantsthediction's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The premise is interesting and the writing decent. It suffers from that "generic white person name" syndrome I've noticed in a lot of literary fiction, though, which makes it hard to keep characters straight. The perspective switches with every chapter, and the author has a talent for immersing you into each character's head and getting you to know/like them, so that once the chapter ends you're annoyed.

I thought the ending was kind of a letdown overall. I think it was supposed to be happy but it didn't come off that way, just underwhelming. The best part of the whole book were Rhett's chapters, and the VR game with Val's mom... so creepy!

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