I do love that the unhinged feminine trope is alive and well. I love that we keep getting “weird woman” books. Some of my favorite books ever are about women’s descent into madness (hellooooo The Bell Jar). The thing is….the stories need to be good, believable, nuanced. 

This was not that. This was just absolute absurdity. And not even interesting absurdity, but tired, tropey absurdity that disappointed and bored me. From the protagonist’s “model” appearance and convenient wealth to the ludicrous caricature of the ethically-bereft, new-age, negligent psychiatrist to the toxic hate-hate relationship with the “best friend”who only serves to contrast the narrator, to the crappy, bordering on abusive dead parents. Everything was hyperbole, which felt lazy. 

I love a good morally ambiguous character, ethical gray areas are my jam. But there was no ambiguity here, all these characters were just insufferable people. And worse, they weren’t even interesting insufferable people. I didn’t find anything clever or redeeming about this at all. 

I think readers of a certain age will understand pretty early on that the timeline of this novel bends its arc toward a

9/11 conclusion

, but even knowing that’s where it was headed I found the ending to be rushed and a bit of a cheap trick. However, the last 20 pages were probably some of the best writing of the entire book. 

TLDR; I got this, but I didn’t like it.