A new year means a new Goodreads Reading Challenge. So far, the year is off to a solid start: I’ve finished nine books since the clock struck midnight on January 1st. Here are a few of the most memorable, along with my unprofessional opinion.
Rating Breakdown:
1/5 stars: Despised everything about it. If I weren’t morally against burning books, this would be the first in the fire.
2/5 stars: Had to force myself to finish this.
3/5 stars: Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it.
4/5 stars: Great book! Yay!
5/5 stars: Absolutely perfect, no notes, please tattoo the entire book on my forearm.
Antarctica by Claire Keegan (2/5 stars)
In the spirit of honesty, I must confess that I haven’t actually finished this book. It is so painfully hard to get through that, for the sake of my mental health, I took a (long) break. I’ve decided to include it in this collection, because just as it haunts my bedside table, it must also haunt this page. I’ll let you know if I ever manage to finish it.
Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney (2.5/5 stars)
Pretentious characters who can’t communicate frustrate me. And they will probably frustrate you, too.
The book’s premise is very interesting, and its concepts are unique. Primarily about the relationships between four people (two college students and a married couple), the novel explores the complexities and complications of love and friendship.
Rooney intended the characters to be unlikeable and frustrating. In her other novels, she fearlessly delves into raw emotions and problematic behaviors through her characters. She maintains this habit in Conversations With Friends. I appreciate Rooney’s ability to humanize her characters, braiding positive and negative traits together in a way that gives nuance to the relationships she portrays.
That said, these characters were entirely detestable, and their behaviors were vile. None of the characters had any redeeming qualities that made me root for their success. Nevertheless, I pushed through the pages, hoping for a satisfying ending.
Clearly, I was naïve.
If you like character development and gratifying conclusions, Conversations With Friends is not for you. But, if you like bold character dynamics and a concise writing style, add the book to your list right away.
Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion (3/5 stars)
To call Maria the protagonist would be generous when her self-destructive behaviors make her the villain of her own story.
The novel follows Maria’s experience as a washed-up actress and her subsequent mental decline. The story takes a character-driven approach as opposed to a real climactic plot. The setting switches back and forth between Las Vegas, Hollywood, and the Mojave Desert, three locations “separated” from normally accessible society that serve to emphasize Maria’s disconnect from reality.
Play It As It Lays was not an enjoyable story to read, but it was incredibly interesting. Maria’s miserable story was painful to follow, and her behaviors were frustrating, but the dissection of an apathetic woman in an apathetic 1960s society lends itself to an interesting exploration of character/setting dynamics.
The first-person perspective creates an unreliable narrator. Maria’s hobbies include taking pills, going on drives, smoking cigarettes, and refusing to take responsibility for her actions. Maria’s character is not likable, but the depiction of a mental health crisis in the 1960s was intriguing. The story is incredibly well-written and believable. I would recommend this book to readers who don’t need a plot to enjoy a story.
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (4/5 stars)
Kaveh Akbar is a poet, which is clear through the rhythmic style of writing in his debut novel, Martyr!. The novel has a multi-perspective, nonlinear structure and centers around twenty-something-year-old, newly sober Cyrus as he develops an obsession with martyrs and finding meaning in his life.
Martyr! is a contemporary exploration of cultural identity as well as grief and purpose. Each character is incredibly complex and creative. My only qualm with the narration is that Cyrus kept telling the reader about his philosophies instead of showing them through his actions (this wasn’t as much the case with the other character perspectives).
Complete with plot twists, philosophy, and (thank goodness) some good, old-fashioned character development, Martyr! is a beautiful addition to the contemporary fiction genre.
Normal People by Sally Rooney (5/5 stars)
“No one can be independent of other people completely, so why not give up the attempt, she thought, go running in the other direction, depend on people for everything, allow them to depend on you, why not.”
Normal People deals with thematic topics like shame, submission, depression, self-esteem, abuse, guilt, hope, pretentiousness, mental illness, the shift from teenage years to young adulthood, and the complexities of love and devotion. And, damn, does it do a good job.
Spanning approximately four years, the story follows Marianne and Connell, two university students studying at Trinity College, and their on-again off-again love affair. Normal People is told from the perspectives of both Connell and Marianne, and transitions seamlessly between the two. Once again, I admire Sally Rooney and her fearless dissection of contemporary relationships.
All in all, this was the book that made me fall back in love with contemporary fiction. It also made me want to cry, but, like, in a good way.
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (5/5 stars)
You Who Will Never Read A Book Like This would be a more accurate title, although the actual title is pretty close to perfect.
Also, consider this my formal apology to everyone who interacted with me over the 48 hours it took me to read this book. I could not stop talking about it. Evidently, I still can’t.
An (extremely underrated) speculative fiction novel, the book details the experience of a young girl locked in a cage underground with thirty-nine other women and what happens after their unexpected escape. It is a deeply intelligent speculation of the thoughts and behaviors of a woman who has only ever known other women and never known normal society.
It’s incredibly hard to compliment a book that transcends compliments. All I can say is that this book is immaculately written, philosophical, witty, and a fast read. It also has probably one of the best closing lines of all time.
