4.5 stars. Some brilliant stories, some half-duds, but mainly very good. It's not exactly the traditional anthology though, given some of its contents4.5 stars. Some brilliant stories, some half-duds, but mainly very good. It's not exactly the traditional anthology though, given some of its contents are actually full-length novels (The Moonstone, The Hound of the Baskervilles)! So don't think you'll finish it as quickly as the usual; it took me a month.
Merged review:
4.5 stars. Some brilliant stories, some half-duds, but mainly very good. It's not exactly the traditional anthology though, given some of its contents are actually full-length novels (The Moonstone, The Hound of the Baskervilles)! So don't think you'll finish it as quickly as the usual; it took me a month....more
**spoiler alert** Trigger warning for the usual school-shooting themes: gun violence, domestic violence, hostage-taking, bullying etc., with some of t**spoiler alert** Trigger warning for the usual school-shooting themes: gun violence, domestic violence, hostage-taking, bullying etc., with some of that last involving explicit physical violence between teenagers. Also for mental illness (in depth), family disintegration and child parentification.
The book isn't exactly a masterpiece, but it was sufficiently intriguing for me to snag it from the library sale shelf (for 10p a book, who would hesitate?), and it does make me want to check out where the author went from here.
It's not a traditional YA school shooting story in certain ways, and that's a good thing, but it also telegraphs its path, and its eventual ending, a bit much from time to time. It's also frustrating for me that Mia, the main protagonist and narrator, feels like the only fully-realised character of the lot, including her family, her best friend, all of whom are clearly not *meant* to be the literary equivalent of NPCs, but... sigh... they all *feel* as though they are.
This instalment doesn't stand alone as easily as GT9, and has a whole list of potential triggers, but I love so much about it regardless! I'll review This instalment doesn't stand alone as easily as GT9, and has a whole list of potential triggers, but I love so much about it regardless! I'll review properly after my second read, as I prefer to do....more
**spoiler alert** An interesting but very disturbing piece of work, this one. It will ring bells in head and potentially heart, for those of us with a**spoiler alert** An interesting but very disturbing piece of work, this one. It will ring bells in head and potentially heart, for those of us with any experience of living with parents (or possibly other family members?) who are narcissistic, psychopathic or sociopathic. Might also trigger PTSD if you have it, so be careful about that.
I had to read very carefully, and not in exact written order, to evade a panic attack. Much of Olivia's narrative brought back difficult memories for me. I'm fortunate in that my mother was a far stronger balancing influence in my life than Olivia's father, and that my father is a narcissist rather than a psychopath - I believe my childhood would have been far more difficult than it was, if he'd been that, though it did take many years to realise that he probably has NPD.
I already knew, from decades of experience, that he uses any weakness he can find to push my buttons and those of other people close to him, & the reel-in-throw-away technique Olivia outlined in Josephine's behaviour is something with which I am also very familiar. When I was a child my friends *loved* my dad, he always acted like their best friend when we were in public and rarely ever let that mask slip. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of my friends who have seen the other side of his behaviour. So, yes, that was hard to read, because I knew it, and when Olivia spoke about her mother spoiling her and buying presents, I knew what would follow that.
It's difficult to review a memoir as a piece of literature, especially one so personal. In a fictional novel I'd be bothered by predictability, but it does no disservice to a memoir. The book itself is well-written, the story told in detail and with little attempt to evade the utter reality of Olivia's family and their situation; that can make it harder to get through, especially for those of us who have experience with such people among our own loved ones, but it is definitely worth reading, whether you know a psychopath or whether you don't. If you don't, it's a good warning and exploration of what an abusive family relationship can be like when you're on the receiving end of life with someone with a personality disorder on that particular dangerous axis.
(Please do note, if you don't know it, *not* everyone with a PD is dangerous. My partner has borderline personality disorder, and I have never felt threatened or hurt - in any way - by her. *Whatever* people say about BPD.)
So, with all this praise, why 4 stars rather than 5? Well, mainly because the time-skipping and chapter separation can be a little awkward and difficult to deal with, and it could make for real confusion in a reader. Secondly, the story itself seems very heavily weighted narratively in certain parts of Olivia's life with and without Josephine: some parts are extremely detailed, where other things that I would have rather liked to hear about in a tale like this are mentioned only in passing or cut surprisingly short.
All that aside, though, definitely worth reading. Just be cautious, if you happen to be a fellow survivor of domestic abuse: the details can make for a pretty tough read. Make sure you feel secure enough to face that before you begin. Good luck....more
4.5 stars. Will return to add notes later (they're in a different file to the reading log).4.5 stars. Will return to add notes later (they're in a different file to the reading log)....more
Well, this novel had more potential than it lived up to, I think now. It's readable, very much so, but disturbingly vague in places and when you thinkWell, this novel had more potential than it lived up to, I think now. It's readable, very much so, but disturbingly vague in places and when you think about it in greater depth the major flaws prove themselves difficult to overlook. 2.5 stars....more
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