3 stars because I have mixed feelings for this book. I do believe Makkai is a great writer, and I couldn’t put this book down, but there were so many 3 stars because I have mixed feelings for this book. I do believe Makkai is a great writer, and I couldn’t put this book down, but there were so many plot elements that didn’t sit right with me.
The novel is about Bodie, a podcaster who has returned to her high school (a boarding school in New England) to teach a short class. There, the murder case of her roommate, Thalia, is resurfaced because one of her students wants it to the be the focus of her project. Okay, an interesting lead, and I was hooked from the start.
A couple of things bothered me. One was the narration style. The novel is in first-person, short chapters, and Bodie is often speaking to (narrating? Uh? It’s been so long since I earned my English degree) an unnamed figure from her school, someone we suspect was involved with Thalia’s death. Eventually we learn it’s their music teacher, and Bodie has a borderline obsessive need to prove that he was involved with Thalia.
This is so compelling! But it’s not explored nearly enough for my taste. I wanted more obsession. Bodie toes the line but the story is often confused by flashbacks to high school, reconnecting with old classmates in the present, dealing with inane twitter drama (what an infuriating side plot), and because of this, a narrative technique that I’m genuinely into did nothing for me. If Bodie is going to “speak” to this teacher throughout the entire novel, then I need more obsession from her, more of an unhinged view of her past. It didn’t hit the mark.
This isn’t even bringing up the for-mentioned twitter drama. What was the point of bringing up this (according to Bodie, fake) #metoo side plot? What is the commentary here? That Twitter is stupid? That everyone on that site has brainworms? Nuance is important, and I think that’s what she was trying to get across, but instead it made Bodie so insufferable. I need that website to shut down already. I don’t want to have to read people’s takes in novels!
I adored this one. Orange wrote a wonderful cast of characters, each of whose voice is clear and distinct from one another.
Each chapter is told from I adored this one. Orange wrote a wonderful cast of characters, each of whose voice is clear and distinct from one another.
Each chapter is told from another character’s point of view, but as the story goes on their connections become more clear. This cemented my interest into their interwoven story lines and especially at the bloody and gripping ending!
Does anyone else look up books and their authors to see the articles/reviews/buzz about them? Sweetbitter got quite a lot when it came out in 2016. ThDoes anyone else look up books and their authors to see the articles/reviews/buzz about them? Sweetbitter got quite a lot when it came out in 2016. The author, Stephanie Danler, had worked in the restaurant business for years and she inputted her expertise into this novel, her debut!
One issue I have with reading huge amounts of praise before beginning a novel is that I often have expectations that may not be met. I often avoid reviews, especially spoiler-y ones on goodreads, so that I have a clean slate when starting a book. But for Sweetbitter, I was a hundred pages in and dissatisfied and I wanted to know what people had been saying about it when it came out.
Overall, I think that Danler is a talented writer. In the beginning, I was growing rather bored with reading about Tess learning how to work in the restaurant business. It gets good when the politics within the restaurant begin to come more to the surface. The seedy manager who sleeps with a number of new girls, Tess's entering into a not quite love triangle with the bartender and a waitress who had known each other since they were children, and the trials of becoming immersed into the business and how easy to be sucked in for years. By midway through, I was enjoying the novel and I do love reading about young people in New York City trying to make it, since I am about to graduate and plan on moving to New York City at some point in the future. But overall, I didn't love this novel. I am intrigued to read more of Danler's work and may check out her next one, whenever that may be. Time will tell!
Have you read Sweetbitter? Let me know what you think in the comments. ...more
I had the wrong idea about this book from the beginning. I decided to buy Me and Earl and the Dying Girl because I watched a thirty second trailer forI had the wrong idea about this book from the beginning. I decided to buy Me and Earl and the Dying Girl because I watched a thirty second trailer for the movie and I thought it seemed funny and a heartwarming story. I know that I hadn't read a YA book in awhile and I thought that perhaps this would be one that I could enjoy but I was mistaken. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is from the point of view of Greg Gaines, a high school senior who has managed to live through high school without any enemies and as everyone's friend. His social status, as well as his life, is thrown into a frenzy when his mother forces him to reconnect with a childhood girlfriend because she is dying from leukemia. It tried too hard. I don't know how else to explain it. I felt that the narration was trying to be funny when I wasn't amused. I thought that Earl's dialogue was overdone. Beyond the fact that Rachel was dying from cancer, I felt that we did not get to know her character at all and to be honest I didn't think she was all that interesting. And, god, don't get me started on how much I hate the high school thing. I hate the high school thing. Actually let me talk about the high school thing because this didn't become a 'thing' for me until after I graduated from high school and had the 'whole high school experience' (because, you know, I went for four years, I experienced it, I know what goes on in high school like so many other people in this world). I hate hate hate when high school is introduced into a narrative with the different social groups, popularity, and how it is the MOST IMPORTANT THING in high school. And there are plenty of high school set stories that I love. Clueless, Heathers, Mean Girls, the Craft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gossip Girl, among others. I can enjoy a good high school setting. What I can't enjoy is when the narrator constantly whines about how the social hierarchy of high school is ruining his/her life. My main problem with this narrator was that he believes that the only way to get through high school is by not making any friends and staying invisible the entire time (??? what???). Okay, Greg is right, when he says that high school sucks, because it does suck. It's the worst. But I hate when it's talked about again and again. I hate high school but more than that I hate it when characters are placed in high school and won't stop talking about how much high school sucks! There is an overall agreement that high school sucks, but when the main character constantly uses it as a plot point and the whole "i must not make any friends because god forbid I'm shunned by a group in high school" as a reason to distance himself from potential friends, then yes that is going to annoy me and I'm not going to be able to enjoy the book. (also, a personal side note, the only reason I got through high school was because I had a good group of close friends. Dunno what Greg was thinking tbh). This obviously is something that bothers me a lot, which is why I call it the "high school thing," because I did encounter it in some other novels I read a few months ago. It's not all high school settings though. Laurie Halse Anderson's books take place in high schools. Is the high school thing overdone in her books? No. Is there still a high school setting, with different dynamic social groups and such that affect the MC? Yes. Listen it's really hard to like a book when the first 20 pages piss you off and you find the characters either unbelievable or boring. There were parts that I laughed at. I thought Greg's parents and Earl's brothers were amusing. And there were parts that were rather sad (when Rachel died, of course). Perhaps if I read this book while I was in high school, I would have enjoyed it more and I can understand how some people would find it funny, heartwarming, similar to John Green, etc. But overall for me this book was a disappointment....more
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