As a huge fan of cult stories, I was excited to hear Lara Williams' new novel The Odyssey was tackling a quasi-cult loosely based around the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi and set upon a cruise ship. A cruise liner is rich pickings for the strange half-culture of its guests and staff and the mind-numbing repetition of days. The writing excels when Williams shows the fallibility of the main character – as she recounts a personal memory to Keith, the captain who is inducting her into his 'mentorship scheme' (cult!), he makes her repeat the memory and add depth each time. Her story shifts with each telling, the memory vignette becoming darker, more bruised, more wounded – and more truthful. For me, that's the tour de force of this novel but which I sadly didn't quite get from the main character at other stages in the story.

This was an absolute trip. I feverishly devoured this book over a few sittings in one day.
If you like absurd, bizarre, strange fiction like The Pisces or Bunny, this may be for you.
Ingrid describes her life on the WA, a luxury cruise liner, as she works her way through various job assignments. She signs up to a mysterious staff development programme run by the ship’s captain. It all starts to get a bit cult-like, and as Captain Keith’s mentorship progresses, Ingrid seems to lose her grip on reality.
Reading this was like living through a fever dream. A genuinely funny, confusing, tense fever dream that I wanted to stay in a little longer.

While well written and descriptive, I found this story about Ingrid, a 'functioning alcoholic' who works on a cruise ship while trying to escape from her past, a little confusing and disappointing.

Charting her different roles on board, alongside her apparent journey in a programme which had a distinct cultish feel, the glimpses offered into Ingrid's past seemed to perhaps explain her behaviour but also seemed to highlight how easy it is to make incorrect assumptions about things.

Occassionally humorous and at other times sad, having noted how other reviewers have raved over this book, I fear - as with Normal People - I obviously missed some of the nuances that were supposed to make me love this book. Hopefully others will be able to see what I missed.

I feel completely disorientated and confused after finishing this book but….I think I loved it??

We follow Ingrid who works on a cruise ship where she spends her days rotating jobs including working in a gift shop and as a manicurist. On days off or ‘Land Leave’, she disembarks from the ship and gets drunk off local alcohol which distracts her from the life she left behind.

One day she is selected for the employee mentorship scheme, run by the ships captain and self titled lifestyle guru Keith who pushes her further than she thought possible. But sooner or later, she will have to ask herself: how far is too far?

As I mentioned before, this book is confusing and disorientating and surreal and unsettling, and my reading experience kept switching between me loving it and completely not being sure if I was enjoying it. It explores themes of alcoholism, capitalism, depression, cult behaviour and the narrator is unreliable, dissociative and extremely chaotic which I really enjoyed and think the author wrote really well.

I’ve seen people describe this book and disturbing, and while there are certainly disturbing parts, I kind of wish the book had leant more into the cult vibes and explored those themes more.

I rarely say this as a lover and reader of short books, but I feel like this book could’ve benefited from being slightly longer and given more room to explore the characters, their reasons for being on board and Keith’s motivations.

Overall, this is a really hard book for me to review both because I’m still unsure of what I just read, and because I don’t want to give any spoilers- but if you’re a fan of books like My Year of Rest and Relaxation, authors like Melissa Broder, or the whole sub genre of 20-something-women stumbling through life, definitely give this one a chance!

Supper Club by Lara Williams is one my favourite books so I have been really looking forward to what she does next. And she did not disappoint- this was a wild ride.

We follow Ingrid as she works on a cruise ship, with a slightly sketchy manager called Keith who inducts her into a programme with dubious rules and intentions. Williams touches upon cults, infidelity, alcoholism and mental health. Williams done such a great job of creating this slightly off kilter/tense vibe and there are few scenes that will linger in your mind for a while after putting this down.

The only downside is I wanted a little bit more explanation, the characters motivations wide open for interpretation, but at the same time I enjoyed pondering over it. A very enjoyable read that fans of Convience Store Women and Otessa Moshfegh will love!

I really really enjoyed Lara William’s debut, Supper Club, so I was really excited for this.

The premise sounded intriguing - directionless young woman, plus a cruise ship, plus something to do with a cult?

But honestly, I just didn’t get it. I didn’t understand it at all. I was confusing for most of the book and even more so by the end. It’s been compared to many books that I love, including My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Convenience Store Woman, but for me personally, it just didn’t land.

Is it a merciless takedown of consumer capitalism? You’ll have to ask someone smarter than me.

An unusual read, oddly compelling, strangely disturbing, a bit unsettling. Ingrid has left her marriage behind to work on the Wa a huge cruise ship. She is enrolled on the programme, designed to make her be her true self, attending meetings with the enigmatic Keith of whom all the staff appear to be in awe and who can initiate procedures which, though not compulsory, are followed blindly.
There follows a sequence of events at sea and on land following Ingrid's progress and dedication to her onboard roles and her on land transgressions, her relationships with Mia and Ezra and her ever wandering thoughts, feelings and emotions. I can't say I liked her particularly, she is restless and dissatisfied, angry and needy and yet I felt sorry for her and wanted her to be happy and for things to pan out for her, but life's not like that. I can't honestly say I enjoyed the book or necessarily understood some of it, it made me feel slightly uncomfortable a bit emotional at times but I could not stop reading it.

Such a bizarre read. Explores themes such as capitalism, consumerism, spirituality in a completely refreshing and unique way. The writing was excellent and kept me feeling uneasy and tense throughout (in a good way!) Despite getting no concrete answers to a lot of what was going on, I felt that perfectly fit such a surreal novel.

Strangely captivating.

Would recommend to fans of Ottessa Moshfegh-but definitely not one for everyone.

3.75/5

I'm not totally sure I got this. I didn't feel empathy for any of the characters, it took quite a strange turn which I don't think was ever totally explained, the boss (Keith?) could have been explored a little more but maybe this was a deliberate decision. I don't feel the cover or description matched the book, I was expecting something totally different! But not an unenjoyable read - just not for me.

As a big fan of Supper Club, I was very much looking forward to this book and it didn't disappoint. A great follow up from Lara Williams, though I am always favouriting unhinged/sad millennial women books.

The Odyssey

Another book about dysfunctional women making uncomfortable choices. Not a sub-genre I am massively enthralled by, but there have definitely been a couple that I enjoyed.

I requested this on NetGalley because of how much I loved Supper Club, a book I enjoyed so much, that I have given it as a gift since reading. The Odyssey, however is unlikely to be on my gift list.

I honestly can’t put my finger on why it didn’t engage me. I’ve read reviews from others who have described this book as a compulsive read, but it just wasn’t that for me. I feel like the combination of the setting of a cruise ship (the idea of which makes uncomfortable anyway) and a cult, left so much opportunity open for a satirical or dark comedy approach. Instead a lot of the twists and turns in the plot - even the more shocking ones - although not at all predictable, felt underwhelming and accidental almost. Like when someone answers a convoluted mathematical equation, but doesn’t show their working, a lot of the time I was left thinking ‘how did we get here?’.

It’s not a terribly written book, I enjoy how Williams unpicks her characters and clearly it wasn’t awful enough for me to stop reading. I think it would be a good book club read, I would actually really like to discuss certain themes and character actions. I just don’t think that this particular type of book is for me.

Thank you to to Penguin UK for an advance copy via NetGalley.

What a completely bizarre little novel! I found it better than 'Supper Club', less repetitive and predictible. We follow Ingrid, who works on the WA, a cruise ship, and has just been selected to participate in its bizarre mentoring programme, where she learns from Keith, obsessed by wabi sabi and who subjects her and other workers to strange (and sadistic) rituals. Ingrid navigates her friendships, her time on and off the ship, thinks about her husband, drinks. It is a very disturbing and strange novel and I loved it, it reminded me of several other novels I liked recently - notably 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' and 'Convenience Store Woman'.

I think this can easily be categorised as one of the strangest books that I have ever read; a strange, dystopian cult, an unhinged (for want of a better word) female protagonist, and adults pretending to be babies. This isn't the type of book that I would usually pick up and yet and is perhaps not one that I would pick up again, but I still found myself enjoying it and am even curious to read the authors debut.

The first thing that comes to mind when describing this book is quirky. Which is something I appreciate in a read. I have to say I preferred the parts set on the boat rather than off shore but found it very readable.

All of the characters were so unique, interesting and flawed that I would have liked to have known a bit more about them. As it sort of felt like they floated in and out of the novel and could disappear at any time, perhaps onto land without a real explanation of why they were on the boat on the first place, why they left and where they went.

This book was wildly dark, and uncomfortable to read at times but in a good way. If i’m being completely honest I don’t think I would reread this one but it was certainly very original and I would recommend if someone wants a quirky, weird quick read

Meet Ingrid. She works on a gargantuan luxury cruise liner, where she spends her days reorganizing the merchandise and waiting for long-term guests to drop dead in the changing rooms. On her days off, she disembarks from the ship and gets blind drunk on whatever the local alcohol is. It's not a bad life. And it distracts her from thinking about the other life she left behind five years ago. Masterfully written, this novel will reel you in and hold you enthralled as the layers of story are revealed. Highly recommended.

This a tightly plotted book with a highly dysfunctional multi layered thirty something at the heart. While it won't be for everyone, It's dark twists and turns and its sheer uniqueness makes it gripping and really quite brilliant.

This was such a treat - I will definitely be rereading and tabbing this one

Think unhinged female protagonist x dystopian cult vibes x The Outer Worlds DLC where everyone is strangely happy and euphoric. If you loved Boy Parts, My Year of Rest and Relaxation etc, this one *may* just beat them, and I don't say that lightly.

Intriguing and provocative exploration of human condition. It follows a narrator of an indeterminate age (30something?) working on a cruise ship where she has spent the past five years, alienated from her old life (but you sense there is some sort of trauma behind that), seeking renewal through oblivion. It’s sort of self-absorbed nihilism, destructive, a little surreal, and disturbing. Compellingly written, it is, for the most part a compulsive read.

The publisher’s blurb mentions My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Convenience Store Woman and High Rise, a heady combination and while it contains similar themes to all three, alienation and search for meaning/ belonging, critique of capitalism, descent into madness, I felt it didn’t quite deliver. From the novel’s title and cruise ship setting, I drew obvious parallels and expected it to have more of a plot. I suppose its journey-adventure is an internal one, which while fascinating to start off with (playing Families, obsession with training manuals) didn’t sustain my interest. It’s a good book but perhaps not for me.

My thanks to Penguin and Netgalley for the opportunity to read The Odyssey.

If you're interested in dysfunctional human beings then this is the read for you. Woven within the plot (for want of a better misnomer) is the spirit of Wabi Sabi (look it up for yourself, I had to), land based alcoholism, the ritual removal of one's surplus Phalanx, and adults playing at being babies.

Enough said.