Spoilers in this post. I tried to add the spoiler tag but it didn't work for some reason.
I just finished this. I really liked it, but I found it to be a very different reading experience than anything I've ever read (or at least anything I can remember reading.) What I loved was the characters, especially the protagonist/narrator Selin. I enjoyed being in her head- her wry humor, her kind of aimless philosophizing, and her commentary on the pointlessness of most of the things that happened to her.
What made the book strange for me was the lack of what I would call a traditional plot. It just… meandered. And I was willing to meander with it because I loved the narrative voice so much. But the story itself felt so… messy. Almost too much like real life. In a way it was refreshing for her not to end up with Ivan in the end, but in a way it was also kind of unsatisfying and annoying.
I get that the conflict was internal rather than external, but in such a case I would expect the main character to show more growth by the end of the book and honestly, I love Selin but it didn't feel like this relationship, her experience of heartbreak, or her travels really led to a huge amount of growth.
I don't know. I guess my summary of my feelings about this book is that I really enjoyed a lot of individual parts of it, but I'm not sure how it fits together as a novel. Am I missing something important? Is this just kind of how lit fic is? (its not my go-to genre)
Despite its shortcomings, it intrigued me enough that I want to read the sequel.
by Nofrillsoculus