Rounding up to three stars

I loved The New Me and was excited to get to Butler's latest.

This was a lot. So many characters that started to sound the same and the book went on for too long. I think Butler is sharper at a tighter page count.

hmmm... not too sure about this one. i think i had HIGH expectations and they just werent met. but i will definitely read more halle butler in the future tho.

thank you random house and netgalley for the arc!

well, this is certainly an apt title! banal nightmare follows moddie after she returns to her hometown, x, after the end of a long-term relationship with some annoying guy. she reunites with old friends and falls into the old patterns of midwest hometowns everywhere: gossip, regret, and burgeoning resentment for everyone and everything around you! (i can say that, i am kind of from the midwest)

i enjoyed halle butler’s the new me, and banal nightmare expands on a lot of what worked in that novel. unfortunately, this expansion is to banal nightmare’s detriment. the new me was so funny because it was short and concise, a mere 193 pages. the antics of the insufferable narrator were more entertaining than annoying because you didn’t actually have to spend that much time with her. banal nightmare, sitting at a lofty 336 pages, hits the same beats multiple times to fill each page, and it gets old after a while. had this book been edited into a shorter novel, perhaps it wouldn’t have felt like such a slog at times. instead, we are left with a repetitive, sluggish novel that is just a bit grating.

the thing is, i think this book is meant to be grating. so congrats on that! it is just so grating to the point of being unpleasant to read for an extended period of time. and it certainly felt like it took me forever to read.

another shift that butler made in this novel was to expand to a cast of characters rather than have one narrator. this was also something that i wish simply didn’t happen lol. this book needed a straight man to help balance the sheer insanity of every character, and not one was found. the whole town of x is full of freaks, and i just so desperately needed one person to be normal lmao

maybe it is unfair of me to keep comparing banal nightmare to the new me, but i sincerely do not mean to do so as a way of dragging banal nightmare down. both novels just have such similar tones that i feel like the comparison is fair. i do think halle butler is gifted at crafting this specific, funny/weird girl/unsettling/untrustworthy and also unlikable narrator vibe, and both novels demonstrate this. i just think banal nightmare needed editing to get this vibe across in a way that readers would find…enjoyable. :)

If you like, imperfect and raw characters this book is for you.

As someone who enjoys complicated characters, particularly female characters, I found this book intriguing. While the story centres around Moddie, her friends and general surroundings play an equally significant role in the plot. I found this story to be extremely dark- at times making it hard for me to continue reading. While I admire the complexity of the characters, I found it hard to resonate with so much bitterness and cruelty, as the characters had little to no redeeming qualities. Each time I put the book down, I was left with an empty feeling that lingered, which left me overthinking ( which, I believe, was Butler's intent). It left me wondering: to what extent can humans be cruel to those they simply tolerate?
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC!

There are elements of Halle Butler's writing I really like (the specifics, the inner monologues, the thought processes of the characters) but this book was so light on plot and character evolution that it ended up falling fairly flat for me. I'm still glad I read it, she's an author I always like to see a new book from, but this book felt quite similar in tone/character/topics to The New Me and Jillian. Will read what she writes next, but definitely hoping for a bit of a leap forward.

This novel is raw, unrelenting, and drenched in discomfort, forcing readers to face the gritty, unpleasant aspects of life with brutal clarity. Butler pulls no punches, exposing the messiness of existence in your 30s—full of toxic relationships, crushing disappointment, and an overwhelming sense of frustration. With characters you’re not supposed to like and a narrative that lingers like a bad aftertaste, this book magnifies life’s ugliest truths, leaving you both unsettled and introspective long after you've put it down.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC which I read in exchange for my honest review.

Everyone in this book is nihilistic and awful, and I loved it.

A book of dualities. Of empathy and disgust. The dark thoughts you have when you wake at 2 am. The things you would never tell anyone.

Raw and real and wonderful.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Banal Nightmare by Halle Butler!

I really like Halle Butler's writing, and this feels very in the same vein of her other books style wise. Sometimes it is slow, but that is very vibe, her approach (See Jillian). I still found it funny, clever, familiar.

This was painful. I really struggled with the writing style that felt like a lot like rambling, pretty much how the thoughts in my head are. There is not a plot in this book, not really, just a collection of mundane moments with a focus on relationships. I was very close to DNF at 70% when Moddie finally has a breakthrough, just to power through the rest of the book and be disappointed. I was really rooting for it to have a good ending, at least. I'm aware I may not be in a right mind state for this book and could have been an issue of timing, but truth is I didn't care for any of the characters.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title in exchange for an honest review. Sadly, this didn't meet my expectations. I found all the characters to be painful, the ending was random and the plot just didn't do it for me: a bunch of adults pretending to like a childhood friend/classmate that no one genuinely seemed to like to begin with because no one could understand her/ her lack of social queues and self awareness while they all dealt with their own misunderstood relationships.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

I was super excited when I got this, because I read and loved Jillian by Halle Butler in the past. It very likely was a me issue, but I just could not get in to this. I read about a quarter of it and never wanted to pick it up. I'd love to revisit it at a later time when I have the capacity, but was such a let down in the moment.

A little too precise and bitter for me in my current state. But I appreciate when an author seemingly nails what they set out to write.

3.5, a good book in its own right but one that leaves me feeling icky days after finishing.

This book is about the banal & nightmarish realities of life in adulthood. (And my god, if this is what my 30’s are gonna look like you can keeeeep it. Just let me go.) Everyone hates everyone else (life long friends and spouses alike!) while they all also see themselves as completely righteous (truly realistic actually). And also is Mottie well?? Or is that just her personality?? (That’s not part of the book description, I’m genuinely left very curious about this.)


I think I can sum up my reaction to this book through two quotes from said book.

1. My initial reaction:
“On and on and on. These people were always talking talking talking. But not about anything interesting. God, what a prison. What a swindle.”

2. My delayed reaction as the book began to seep in and I started to wonder why I struggle so much reading books with unlikable characters:
“Film, but probably actually TV, has quite obviously replaced literature as the dominant narrative form. So now people are learning how to create narrative identity out of their own experiences using this model that we see in film where good triumphs over evil. We see ourselves in the characters as good, and we internalize that to mean that we are good heroes and anything that upsets us or gets in the way of our heroic and constant ascent as evil. We don’t understand anything about the dark parts of our own nature. All of those parts are repressed. So of course when we see those parts of ourselves expressed in another person we attack. We vanquish the evil in ourselves by exerting control over others.”

i adore halle butler and think she brings something so unique and fresh to the 'sad girl lit fic' genre that has become so oversaturated over the years. however, this book did feel a bit too...miserable at times. like every character was like this.

Deepest apologies for this review coming so late. This past year has been wild and my attention has been pulled in so many directions.

--- Review a la Rotten Tomatoes---

Good, funny, but an unfocused satire that takes scattershot aim at white liberal, Midwestern posturing that if it had a bit more focus would actually be a razor sharp, harrowing journey.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for gifting me this advanced read copy

Banal nightmare is a hot girl book with interesting conversations around friendship and relationships! I don’t think this book will fill everyone’s itch for an unhinged hot girl book but it was interesting!

Our story surrounds Moddie who has just returned to her home town from the big city following the split from h r relationship with a very toxic man. Moddie returns to her old friend group and meets a mysterious artist.

Honestly this book made me feel really bad! I felt for Moddie and in someways it brought me comfort knowing my life wasn’t that bad. On the other hand everybody in this book is truly so unlikable and it was hard at times to stay interested in the happenings

I absolutely adore the work of Halle Butler! The New Me and Jillian are two of my favorite books, so when I was able to read Banal Nightmare I was so thrilled. I read this one a few times and after it was published my colleagues read it so I wanted to sit with the book and my thoughts for a little. Butler is such a pro at writing complicated and gray area characters and I love every moment of it. This is definitely another favorite for me.

Banal Nightmare by Halle Butler delivers dark humor and sharp social commentary in a painfully relatable way. Butler captures the absurdity of everyday life with biting prose, making you cringe and laugh in equal measure. It’s a brutally honest and satirical look at the disillusionment of adulthood, perfect for readers who enjoy raw, uncomfortable truths wrapped in wit. Fans of Otessa Moshfegh will be interested!

I had a tough time with this one. I found it hard to get through and it lacked anything that kept me engaged. The reason I do give it two stars is because I understand that the characters in this book are not supposed to be likable, Halle Butler certainly succeeded in that regard. There were some moments that did make me laugh but overall this one just wasn't for me.