I didn't like this one as much as the first two, but I liked Miki more than anything ever, soI didn't like this one as much as the first two, but I liked Miki more than anything ever, so...more
Oh gosh, what a weird and wonderful book. It made me feel like reading fairy tales did when I was a kid, but in a grown-up way. Not everyone will likeOh gosh, what a weird and wonderful book. It made me feel like reading fairy tales did when I was a kid, but in a grown-up way. Not everyone will like it, but I sure did....more
I don't think the book was great, but I think the yes-or-no sex checklist was amazing. I'm still thinking about it. Lock me up in horny jail and throwI don't think the book was great, but I think the yes-or-no sex checklist was amazing. I'm still thinking about it. Lock me up in horny jail and throw away the key....more
This book—and I don't mean this unkindly, because I admire cárdenas as an academic and an artist, and I respect her rhetorical goals here—but this booThis book—and I don't mean this unkindly, because I admire cárdenas as an academic and an artist, and I respect her rhetorical goals here—but this book reads like it was written by someone who isn't that interested in fiction. A smart person, for sure, but someone who doesn't seem to grasp what's special about fiction, what draws people to it, or what it needs to accomplish in order to be successful.
Good fiction tells a story and trusts the reader to form their own conclusions about it. This book was written conclusion-first. We are consistently told what we should be feeling instead of being shown what's happening and given the space to form our own conclusions. It reads like an awkwardly-paced summary of what cárdenas wants readers to take away from it instead of a story in its own right. It would have worked better as some sort of speculative nonfiction zine.
well I'll tell ya one thing for sure—nobody's doin' it like Joan anymorewell I'll tell ya one thing for sure—nobody's doin' it like Joan anymore...more
This was sweet, and I liked it overall. The main couple is charming, the supporting cast slots in nicely, and it moves at a quick clip, which I alwaysThis was sweet, and I liked it overall. The main couple is charming, the supporting cast slots in nicely, and it moves at a quick clip, which I always appreciate in a romance novel since it's so easy for them to become sluggish and overly interior.
I gotta mention, though, that I picked this up specifically because it's an epistolary, and the epistolary portion is the weakest part of the book. Basically, Nick's an obscure author who published a fantasy novel that Lily loved, and Lily writes him a fan email via his website, and they strike up a correspondence before he ultimately ghosts her.
Structurally, it's almost identical to Laura Kinsdale's My Sweet Folly. Except, well, My Sweet Folly's epistolary portion is much, much better. Folie and Robert's letters to each other are rich and vibrant and communicate details about each other that we need to know for the story, but they do it in that idiosyncratic way that people talk to each other, where the tone and style of the speaker reveals more than the content. We believe that Robert and Folie fall in love over their letters, and so when Robert confesses he's married and stops writing, we're crushed.
I don't believe that Nick and Lily fall in love over their emails. Instead, they deliver their character sheets back and forth to each other, and they also drop some hints that'll clue to them into each other's identity later on in the book. And then Nick ghosts Lily not because he's married, but because he *checks notes* lied about being British and feels bad about it. It's a weird choice, and unfortunately it's also a load-bearing one.
Things definitely improve once they meet in person, if they also become a tad more convoluted. There's a wedding-date-bet plot that's quickly abandoned, as well as a deeply random aside where Nick wakes up naked in his friend's bed and thinks he had sex with her, only to realize that no, he just got black-out, amnesia-level drunk after, like, three drinks (go to the doctor, dude).
But! I was never bored. I really like Lily's sisters, and Nick's arc with his parents is well done. There's a scene with his mom towards the end of the book that's particularly understated and lovely—I would have liked to have seen more of that throughout.
TL;DR: If you're a romcom person, I think you'd like this....more
Gorgeously written, but I do kinda wish a few more THINGS had happened, y'know?Gorgeously written, but I do kinda wish a few more THINGS had happened, y'know?...more
I think it's time to admit that I am not "currently reading" this at all. I haven't picked it up since July and haven't wanted to. But I didn't want tI think it's time to admit that I am not "currently reading" this at all. I haven't picked it up since July and haven't wanted to. But I didn't want to DNF it because I thought that would mean I'm dumb. But I don't think I'm dumb. I think this book is deliberately inscrutable, and I'm well within my rights to be annoyed by that. And today I stumbled across Virginia Woolf's thoughts on Ulysses and that empowered me to publicly admit that I don't wanna read this anymore. I am not having fun....more
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