2.5 ⭐️ but rounding up. There was just too much going on and too many characters for having any real development. It seemed like the central character2.5 ⭐️ but rounding up. There was just too much going on and too many characters for having any real development. It seemed like the central character should have been Maria but felt like too much fighting for control between Maria and Nino but neither of them felt like they carried the story well.
Anna Weber’s storyline was rather disappointing and could have been stronger or left out. The stuff that went down at Mercury and Art’s trial all seemed haphazard. I was hoping that Nino and Vincent’s story would be a movie, but nope.
It was starting to get tighter in the second half but the ending was so anti-climactic and disappointing and I really shouldn’t have been surprised.
However you felt about Catch-22 is probably how you’ll feel about this. Too much was going and really this should have been a duology....more
2.5 ⭐️. Toni Jensen is a fantastic writer and her stories are captivating, however as a cohesive piece, I felt “Carry” missed the mark.
I hate that I’m2.5 ⭐️. Toni Jensen is a fantastic writer and her stories are captivating, however as a cohesive piece, I felt “Carry” missed the mark.
I hate that I’m giving it this rating because she is so talented and what she has to say is invaluable and eye-opening. The memoir is billed as a collection of essays, but it didn’t read that way, nor did it feel like a full novel. It mostly felt disjointed and I didn’t love the Webster’s dictionary definitions throughout.
The last quarter of the book was the best part and I’m glad I stuck with it. I probably just struggled with the editing. I would definitely read more of Toni Jensen and I’m disappointed by my response to “Carry.” ...more
I don’t know if I just had low or no expectations, but I loved this! It’s “Twilight” meets “Interview with the Vampire” meets a little bit of “Hunger I don’t know if I just had low or no expectations, but I loved this! It’s “Twilight” meets “Interview with the Vampire” meets a little bit of “Hunger Games/Goblet of Fire/Fourth” or pick any magical contest book. It’s eerie and goth and sexy and hits all the right notes for me....more
Worth the hype, and I’m very glad I read this. Though this review is short, it’s not because I didn’t love the book, but*TRIGGER WARNING AT THE BOTTOM
Worth the hype, and I’m very glad I read this. Though this review is short, it’s not because I didn’t love the book, but because I have so many thoughts, and I will not presume to articulate them well.
This was the October pick for Books and Bars.
“James” is a retelling of “Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain through the perspective of Jim James. While part I of “James” more or less follows the storyline of “Huckleberry Finn,” but by part II it branches off into its own book, taking on a darker, more sickening, more horrific, and more wrathful story.
I’ve never read any Mark Twain. I think by the time it would have been required reading for me (mid-2000s), it had stopped moving through the high school curriculum. Both before, while and after reading this book, I reviewed the synopsis for “HW” to follow where it differed, but even in the synopsis, I thought the story demeaning and “white savior-y” (but please keep in mind I have not read “HW” so this is a very narrow opinion). I thought about whether I should read “HW” but I’d like to think of Jim James through Percival Everett’s perspective: a man of agency and pride who loves his family and the written word.
This is a very fast read and probably my second favorite Books and Bars read this year (after “Horse” by Geraldine Brooks, which I feel conflicted about enjoying more).
SPOILER ALERT
Hot take: I’m not convinced that James is actually Huck’s father ...more
I first heard about this book while waiting in line at a book event, and then my pal Alissa kept saying that I should read this, and I moved it to theI first heard about this book while waiting in line at a book event, and then my pal Alissa kept saying that I should read this, and I moved it to the top of my audiobook TBR.
Summary: Annie Bot is an autodidactic robot designed to be basically a live-in girlfriend for her owner, Doug. We meet Annie about two years into their relationship and get everything through Annie’s perspective - from her tumultuous relationship with Doug, her fear of being turned off, her desire to become more human, and her journey of self-discovery. By the end, Annie is wondering if it’s worth more to survive or to truly live.
It’s one of the most human stories I’ve read all year, and I’m surprised it’s not on more radars. Though everything is told through Annie’s perspective, we as readers aren’t totally able to tell if Annie is reacting to her learned environment, is fully subject to her programming, or both. So, if you’re someone who loves an unreliable narrator, you’ll love this. Annie is so charming and you’ll be rooting for her the whole time.
The audiobook is great, and the narrator does a fantastic job. It’s easy to follow and stay focused on the story....more
Buckle up. It's a long review. I have way too many thoughts.
tl;dr "Intermezzo" was lovely and messy and heartbreaking and relatable and frustrating anBuckle up. It's a long review. I have way too many thoughts.
tl;dr "Intermezzo" was lovely and messy and heartbreaking and relatable and frustrating and hopeful. Her best work. Easy 5 ⭐️.
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Sally Rooney, you did it again. Brava!
"Intermezzo" has all the Sally Rooney classics: - Complicated love stories with broken/emotionally unavailable people - Bad communicators - Emotional infidelity - The millennial mindset of existential dread coupled with the unbearable weight of the world falling apart - Desire to be normal - Resentment of conformity - Desperation for unconditional love - Loneliness and despair - Lots (un)expected sex scenes - No quotation marks
And a bunch of new material: - Male protagonists - Oedipus complexes but with brothers? - Eventual conflict resolution (once rock bottom is hit) - Characters that don't give up on each other - A protagonist you would raze the world for (Ivan, of course)
I tried to chunk up my ramblings a bit; otherwise, they'd be more scattered than they already are:
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WRITING STYLE If you read "Beautiful World, Where Are You," you'll be somewhat familiar with the narrative of "Intermezzo." Some chapters are split off and told through Ivan+Margaret's POVs, and the others are told through Peter's. The I+M chapters the flow is more direct and linear. Peter's chapters - probably related to his alcohol and drug use - sound more like random albeit poetic thoughts that jump around - more staccato to Margaret's legato and Ivan's…I don't know, interspersed accents and dynamics?
I keep thinking about why the story wasn't told through Sylvia's or Naomi's POV, but I have yet to form a concrete opinion on the matter (and have yet to read any other reviews). Maybe it was to signify that even though Peter is surrounded by people, he feels very alone? Either way, it did not take away from my enjoyment of the book.
GRIEF To say this novel is about grief is both accurate and misleading. For Ivan and Peter, grief is always there but not always recognizable or manifested obviously.
In the beginning, we learn that Peter and Ivan had just lost their father, but it isn't always at the forefront of their thoughts compared to their romantic relationships and relationship with each other. Their grief is an undercurrent of constant loneliness and sadness punctuated by longing memories of their father. Or it's manifested as erratic behavior, and someone will point out to them that they're grieving, and that's why they're acting that way. When this happens, they seem so caught off guard and/or like someone ripped off their mask (à la any Scooby-Doo villain) to reveal that their grief is their dominant trait.
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It's a side of grieving that isn't really addressed, at least not that I remember seeing. There are days that feel like everything is normal and days that feel like everything is falling apart. You find yourself hyper-fixating on what you can control (or what you think you can control) because the thing that's destroying you is something you can't get back.
TRUTH/FEELINGS In Sally Rooney's other novels, you see this behavior as a common characteristic of Millennials: to feel plagued by everything wrong with the world and want to fix those problems, but when it comes to ourselves, we're helpless idiots. The end result is blowing things up in our heads, and in trying to spare others from our nonsense, we end up making things worse than if we just communicated like adults.
You get plenty of that in "Intermezzo," but she acknowledges this inner turmoil as truth/perceived truth (or facts vs. feelings). There's a logic puzzle section that serves as a metaphor for this.
"The puzzle was about a liar who always lies, and the liar says: All my hats are green. Now, can we conclude that he has some hats?"
Truth is not always static and can exist and change based on context, perspective, intent and empiricism. They're often seen in a vacuum, and we can forget that what is true for us is not true for others. Between the brothers, we see a lot of catastrophizing of hypothetical scenarios, blaming others for their pain, feeling gaslit by memory and feelings, and a lot of isolation. It adds more dimension to those emotionally stunted millennials ...more
Thank you to Charles King, the publisher and NetGalley for this advance reader copy.
I originally received this book this summer but was sadly unable tThank you to Charles King, the publisher and NetGalley for this advance reader copy.
I originally received this book this summer but was sadly unable to finish before the release date.
I enjoy a good memoir or a history of 20th century music, but I'm not at all a classical music aficionado so I’m not sure what compelled me to request this book but I’m glad I did.
This is partially a biography of the composer George Friderick Handel, but also a history of what led to his “Messiah” composition, including the scandals, indignities and injustices of those connected to it.
Charles King’s writing is scrupulous and somewhat beguiling for the subject matter. What could have been a very short biography on Handel’s life was made far more interesting by the seemingly disparate stories about its parts and players.
I’m glad to have read it and highly recommend it for music history buffs. ...more
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