horourke's reviews
100 reviews

I watched the film a few years ago when it came out and I found it lackluster. Picked up the book in the hopes that it would illuminate something I missed from the film, but I found the book similarly lacking. The writing and the revelations within it were soo pretentious. It read like a college guy who took one philosophy class and now thinks he has all the answers. That was my main issue with the book. A lot of ideas but not a lot of substance. Questions raised, but not interesting questions. Overall it was just OK - not as mind bending as people say it is. 

LOVED this one. really gripping mysteries, excellent storytelling, and complex characters. at no point in this book did I know what was coming next. tackles topics such as domestic abuse, institutionalization/over medication of women, adolescent wonder, and wealth inequality. highly recommend. 

DNF. narrator was annoying and writing style/meditations on “society” were verrryyyy 2016 

interesting concept and execution but I had a hard time visualizing WTF was going on. and something about the writing style made me want to skim over passages. will prob finish out the series anyways

fun, quick read. if I was a lesbian hooker in the 1870s I’d also crash out. the main character kept making such bad choices but then again she was 16 and orphaned so that’s justified I guess. some random typos/grammatical errors throughout, could’ve done with one last look by an editor 

creepy as hell. I love novellas like this!! so unique and get the point across in a haunting way. love the themes of other dimensions, a place itself being “bad” or “wrong,” and the general feeling of unease the book elicits. 

I love a multi-POV family drama, but some of the critiques of wealth/capitalism came across as contrite and surface level. Cord also seems like a spineless loser and I don’t get his appeal at all

I appreciated the overarching themes of belonging, sense of self, and love vs. lust. However something about the novel just didn’t click for me. Felt incredibly slow moving for a book that’s ~200 pages. I understand why the author chose not to use quotation marks, but it made reading harder and more confusing. Also don’t completely understand why everyone was unnamed. I guess to emphasize this “could happen to anyone” but … could it? Overall just felt extremely overwritten. And I’m left wishing the main character loved themself just a little bit more 

emphasis on SHORT stories. not as impressive as “tender is the flesh.” a lot of the stories felt a bit half baked. 
favorites:
- Unamuno’s Boxes
- Dishwasher
- Elena-Marie Sandi’s
- Mary Carminum
- The Solitary Ones