One of my late December reads was Permafrost by Eva Baltasar. This was a new-to-me author and my first book translated from Catalan. It's a character-driven book through and through, with very little in the way of a plot. 

It's described as having a "no-bullshit lesbian narrator who is an uninhibited lover and wickedly funny observer of modern life."  This was giving me green flags all over the place because it sounds like the type of book I would love. 

Unfortunately, it really fell flat for me. The book itself (as well as the chapters) are very short, but this was still a slog to get through. The narrator is incredibly scatter brained, jumping back and forth between past and present, and never misses a chance to throw in completely random, inane observations. 

I wanted desperately to grab onto SOMETHING in this book, but every time I felt like something was there, the narrator just pivots to something else mid-chapter, or starts off on a new chapter altogether. The end result was jarring, distracting, and very hard for me to follow. 

This book has received a lot of praise, and clearly works for a lot of readers, but it didn't for me. That being said, every time you read a new author, you're rolling the dice. Could be a dud, or could be your new favorite author, and that's one of the most beautiful things about picking up a new book. 

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