*received for free from netgalley for honest review* different from what i thought i guess but pretty good read still

What a gorgeous tumult of language and meaning. The words gallop from one sentence to the next so physically that I stopped responding to them as 'utterances with meaning' and began to feel them instead as if they were things made of pure sound, and color, and flight. This novel's meanings are deep, and the history the novel covers is real, but what I came away with was a deep appreciation for the way meanings can channel themselves through the music of the words as much as through their dictionary-sense.

I experienced this word-tumult via audiobook, and Rachel Coates is the perfect, perfect narrator for the novel--bright optimism, perfect pacing, and a buoyant enthusiasm that carries off every unexpected sentence.

I likely would not have pushed all the way through if I did not have a review copy. This book was not for me. The blurb (at least to me) promises a plot that weaves in the the literati and their push back against the Marcos dictatorship. This book is almost purely about books, trysts, and desire which is fine, but not what I was looking for.

I really really wanted to love this one but I just couldn't get invested in the story. I usually love books about books or book loving characters but this one just fell flat for me and the pacing/plot was not enough to grab my attention. I tried hard to keep going but eventually had to DNF at about 30%. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ALC!

I am not 100% certain about the purpose for a 2022 reboot of this decades old book, but what I can say is that I am not sure it is the book the world needs right now. Some will accept this book with nostalgia and open arms, but for everyone else, I would say there are just better, newer, and more important things to be reading. I didn't think this book was bad - there are definitely moments that I enjoyed thoroughly - I just don't see the point.

As other reviewers have expressed, I’m not sure I’m well read enough to understand this book fully. Even so, that didn’t keep me from enjoying its particular quirks. I was endlessly impressed that Apostol fit so much into such a short novel. Despite having been written in 1997, the troubles of Primi trying to be herself on her own terms while the world is already out of balance felt timely in 2021. I loved that her darker aspects felt like a natural inheritance from her parents (so richly described in so few words) and the narration was perfectly suited.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ALC.

Recommended for: well read book lovers looking for something different than the usual bookstore or library based story.

Content Warnings: Abandonment, Sexual Assault, Death of Parents, Abuse

Visceral, intense, raw.
A slice of cruel and intriguing reality.
Corporeal.
Entirely unique.
For fans Of Charlie Kauffman & Ray—somehow broad but in one succinct punch.

Thank you @netgalley & @highbridgeaudio for the advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

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