Hardcover, 336 pages
Published June 8, 2021 by Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster.
Joan has spent a lifetime enduring the cruel acts of men. But when one of them commits a shocking act of violence in front of her, she flees New York City in search of Alice, the only person alive who can help her make sense of her past. In the sweltering hills above Los Angeles, Joan unravels the horrific event she witnessed as a child—that has haunted her every waking moment—while forging the power to finally strike back.
One of the best novels I’ve read in the past 5 years. Gruesome, compelling, and visceral, I couldn’t put it down.
This opens with a bang and Lisa Taddeo sure can craft some strong sentences – but that's not enough to outweigh the issues I had with this book.
1. It's relentlessly dark, to the point of hyperbole.
2. While there are factors that should make the protagonist a potentially sympathetic character, I didn't like her. At all.
3. I'm pretty open-minded and unfazed by sexual references, but in this book they were plentiful, graphic and crude. I understand that the whole point of this book is how she weaponized sex so as not to be a victim, but it was too much.
I regret finishing it... about 30% in I stopped to check reviews to see if it improved, and a surprising number painted it was a real work of literary fiction that sticks with you and has meaningful reveals at the end, so I persevered. Alas – I should've …
This opens with a bang and Lisa Taddeo sure can craft some strong sentences – but that's not enough to outweigh the issues I had with this book.
1. It's relentlessly dark, to the point of hyperbole.
2. While there are factors that should make the protagonist a potentially sympathetic character, I didn't like her. At all.
3. I'm pretty open-minded and unfazed by sexual references, but in this book they were plentiful, graphic and crude. I understand that the whole point of this book is how she weaponized sex so as not to be a victim, but it was too much.
I regret finishing it... about 30% in I stopped to check reviews to see if it improved, and a surprising number painted it was a real work of literary fiction that sticks with you and has meaningful reveals at the end, so I persevered. Alas – I should've read the spoilers and reclaimed six hours of my life.
I went with 4 stars because while it didn’t work for me 100%, I think it’s going to stick with me. This felt a little like Luster and a little like Zazen. It had a bit more of an overarching story than Luster, which helped for me, but still had a lot of meandering self-destruction. It also had more of a clarity of message in the midst of the meandering that reminded me of Zazen.
This is a brutal story of a damaged woman. She’s not necessarily likable but I think in many cases she’s relatable. Though thankfully I have not had anything like the trauma in her life. The book feels like a study of the effects of that damage, and how a woman can then hurt other women, blame other women, and internalize misogyny in the wake of that damage. In all kinds of relationships - mothers, daughters, …
I went with 4 stars because while it didn’t work for me 100%, I think it’s going to stick with me. This felt a little like Luster and a little like Zazen. It had a bit more of an overarching story than Luster, which helped for me, but still had a lot of meandering self-destruction. It also had more of a clarity of message in the midst of the meandering that reminded me of Zazen.
This is a brutal story of a damaged woman. She’s not necessarily likable but I think in many cases she’s relatable. Though thankfully I have not had anything like the trauma in her life. The book feels like a study of the effects of that damage, and how a woman can then hurt other women, blame other women, and internalize misogyny in the wake of that damage. In all kinds of relationships - mothers, daughters, sisters, friends.
One of the most striking things in the book is the number of times men are unloading emotionally on Joan - even when they barely know her or it’s not appropriate. To me that speaks to the emotional labor that women are expected to perform for men as a whole.
Favorite quote:
… my mother said to me, You love your father better, and that is all right. I thought she was being petty, but suddenly I could call up the pain in her eyes. The unfairness that I thought he was the better of the two of them.
My father did not love one family more than the other. It was that he didn’t care about either more than he cared about himself.
