notesofacrocodile's reviews
235 reviews

i appreciate the premise and the general plot of the novel, but i feel like the writing and the events lagged in parts. there were way too many topics that the author appeared to want to sincerely tackle in a natural manner that fit in with the plot and the tone but it didn't always work out. 

this novel was more about the effect of trauma on the protagonist rather than overly focusing on the cause + direct events of the trauma itself, and i think that was done well to an extent. i did consider dnf-ing this one multiple times solely due to how many times vivian kept making fatphobic remarks and observations. it was repetitive, obsessive, and frankly difficult to get through sometimes, but at the same time i think it does figure well into the many ways that trauma affects people. 
 
if it is possible to get through the obsessive fatphobia and the irritatingly self-righteous tone the protagonist takes on sometimes, then one could give it a try: chantal v. johnson is very much a gifted writer with lots of potential.

i really enjoyed this one, it examines themes such as the machismo culture within the context of rural argentina specifically, and the violence that comes with gender and sexuality. with short bursts of chapters, selva almada's prose hit hard where it needed to. i also found myself thinking a lot about the family dynamics present that led to the shaping of the two protagonists' respective characters, their fathers, their mothers, their childhood, all of it. queerness was not the main focus of the book (for some reason i went into it thinking that it would be a central theme) but it was fit into the larger theme of violent masculinity. i do however wish the characters of the mothers had been explored better though, i found them both very interesting.

oh raif :(((

i experienced such a swell of emotion reading this, there were so many lines that i re-read several times. perhaps it is because certain features of raif and maria reminded me of people i personally know and love, but their stories seemed very real and i found myself feeling their sadness and pain too. this book has often been compared to white nights, and as someone who has read both, i would say that this is the one i liked better. so beautiful.

this was such a heartbreaking experience, of a people fighting to get their voice through in a time when attempts are made to silence them. but they are loud, and the stories they have to say are terrifying to a measure that no human should be witnessing. the late refaat alareer edited this collection along with adding three of his own stories, and altogether, i cannot express just how important it is that everyone reads it.

before going into this book, i had high hopes for it because it seemed to have a few elements to it that i really love in fiction; but i cannot figure out exactly what prevented this experience from being as fulfilling as i thought. i do think that there is still a lot to appreciate about this novella but i also think that maybe it just wasn't for me, personally.