Reviews

Mona by Pola Oloixarac

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emilenilemil's review against another edition

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funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

mangomilkshakee's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

3.75

lupitagonzalez's review against another edition

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I read a couple of chapters but I don't think I'm the right audience for this book. The writing didn't draw me in, and I wasn't intrigued by Mona as a character.

Screamingly funny book at times, and a brilliant skewering of all the pretentious book award festivals. While she’s at it, the author dumps on other authors, the French, the Left, and everything else irritating, eviscerating them all with gleeful panache. No spoilers here, though, about the shocking ending. I’ll be looking up her other books ASAP.

mcribsy13's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.25

libellus's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

rahmat22818's review against another edition

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3.0

up until the end I really enjoyed it and wanted to give it a 4, but the end scene to me didn’t feel like it felt great

leppa13's review against another edition

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4.0

i think i would have rated this a 3/5 but the ending absolutely blew me away - for that alone i think i might have given this book a 5/5 (averaged to 4/5 for overall experience).

kind of a strange read…. a bit smutty, chaotic, a lot of dialogue that was at times thought-provoking and at other times inconsequential!!??? but all spoken in a very consequential way. i love the third person narrative, especially it’s influence on the ending (getting to see it all unfold rather than deeply feeling any of the sensations. but at the same time getting these sensations from an empathetic perspective - i will say no more on this topic! NO SPOILERS).

this is a claire arnold rec SHOUT OUT they told me this books ending was wowowow and for a moment i didn’t believe them but i was so flipping wrong to doubt!!!!!! the ending left me speechless, low key sick to my stomach (visceral!!!!!!!! reaction!!!!!!!), and just in awe of this authors capabilities.

if you like literary festivals in scandinavia, bizarre characters, and satire satire smut satire, then this is the book for you!!!