I adore Halle Butler's novel The New Me - I find her writing is smart, quippy, satirical and advanced in the neo-fiction space. So when I saw she had a 2024 release, I was super excited to jump on another feminine sin fiction novel. Like her other work, her writing is great, she is funny in a way that emphasizes human truths. You can't grow to like anyone, because there is always someone else in the narrative telling you the other side of the story.

I found it very difficult to keep all the characters straight. Due to the banal nature of everyones lives, problems, and marriages they all merge together, and get very jumbled in my brain. Could some light formatting, such as font changes, change this? The narrator changed on a dime, with little to no warning, and I on multiple occasions would be one paragraph in and confused as to how someone randomly got into a new situation.

I am so thankful to PRHAudio, Netgalley, Random House, and Halle Butler for the #free audiobook and #gifted digital access to this comedic stream of thought before it hits shelves on July 16, 2024.

This one is all vibes, no plot, following a reactionary flow of growing pains and and bruises after our main character, Moddie, retreats back to her hometown after a wild couple of years in the city. That reactionary vibe takes a low hit as her long-time friends and new acquaintances struggle to accept her into their group, judging her for her elitist ways and fashion choices.

Banal Nightmare was VERY REAL and I so enjoyed the dialogue that came along with broken friendships and catty haters as Moddie stepped into the next phase of her life.

Butler has done it again. It is a real feat to write a book where absolutely NONE of the characters are likable, while the book itself is engaging and worthy of 4 stars.

A real smorgasbord of banal nightmares pop up for our characters - crappy marriages, crappy friendships, crappy jobs, etc. Not one character is navigating this well but isn’t that the truth of your 30s? The story really ran the gamut of what range of emotions you experience in these scenarios from indifference to grief to pleasure.

Butler has always had a way of writing an unlikable and frankly entirely flawed characters but using them like a mirror held up to the reader. It is at times like empathizing with the worst parts of yourself as you read about the very human nature of these characters. Ow!

This isn’t for everyone but it definitely was for me. If you are a fan of unreliable narrators and furthest-planet-from-perfect characters, enjoy x

After reading the first chapter of Banal Nightmares, I immediately could tell this was going to be a polarizing book. If you are not at all a fan of reading through the perspective of absolutely miserable characters and their completely bleak outlook on life, this one may not be for you.

Luckily, I find that extremely entertaining and enjoyable, and you might too, especially if you are a fan of Ottessa Moshfeg, Kiley Reid's [book:Come and Get It|127482608], or Madeline Grey's [book:Green Dot|127282597].

Banal Nightmares follows Moddie, a 30-something-year-old who has been left reeling and hating life and all that's related to life, after breaking up with her boyfriend of ten years. She ends up suddenly moving to her hometown and reconnects with her old friends, all of which dealing with their own problems, and thus the drama (and bucketloads of pettiness) ensues.

I will say this one is definitely not plot-forward, but the characters were so fun to read from. I felt like a fly on the wall just absorbing all the chaos and drama, and it was so fun. The writing style was so unique, and the humour!! oh, the humour was right up my alley. So darkly hilarious. I loved the transitions between perspectives, I thought they were so well done and seamless, and I haven't really read anything written in that way! It's safe to say I was impressed.

The only qualm I had was with the amount of characters, there just were so many names and since they all work in similar fields and all are equally miserable, it was hard to differentiate between them at times. I still enjoyed the book regardless, and by the 75% mark I had the characters down.

Such a engrossing read, and I'm so exciting to see it blow up over the summer!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

tw: detailed recount of sexual assault.
Publication Date: July 16th 2024

Unfortunately, this one did not work for me.
Usually I like my protagonist's to be unlikeable, but there were no redeeming qualities to this one.
I found the narrative to be bland and unrelatable.
I wish I could have liked this one, given that I adored the author's first book.

This one will only be a two star for me.

Parts of this book made me laugh out loud and I resonate with it a lot as a millennial figuring out life right now.

With that being said, I ended up DNFing this at 60% through, because there are so many characters and the dialogue switches back and forth so much, it became confusing and more of a task than anything. Also, the dialogue is just extremely negative and the relationships are so toxic-with all of that combined, this book just wasn't for me!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this, I am sure it is up many other readers alley!

Banal Nightmare is the perfect name for this book. I love unlikeable characters and no plot but this book was filled with the most miserable characters. There was also so many characters I was starting to lose track of who is who. And the men were so bad and annoying. It was so hard to get through this book with all the meaningless details.

This reminded me of Ottessa Moshfegh’s Eileen. Mostly because every time I read it I felt dirty and depressed but there is a huge target audience who will absolutely adore this. It’s not necessarily the unlikeability of the main character but an utter contempt for the world and a lack of love for anything in it that really bothers me about these, which is largely a personal issue. I would say overall this book is not for a general fiction audience, it’s for a very specific audience who will love it and outside of them it will be hated I think. The cover is gorgeous though and I definitely expect to see it everywhere this summer because that very specific audience is very influential.

I had read The New Me by Halle Butler and really enjoyed it. I am a big fan of Ottessa Moshfegh and other writers that are great at formulating the unlikable, almost cringe-worthy narrator/supporting characters. The premise of this book was relatable to me, as I had broken off an engagement and moved to a Midwestern town. I, unlike the character was not FROM the Midwest but it became a home away from home for me. I was able to see, that no matter where you're from, you have reason to avoid returning to your hometown. I wouldn't be able to recommend this book to everyone. But I do know it will appeal to the patron/reader of a certain taste. You have to have a morbid curiosity/fascination with characters, etc.

This book is full of miserable unlikeable people floundering without much of a plot. I couldn’t put it down and will be dreaming of Moddie tonight.

I received this ARC from Netgalley prior to its July 16 publication! Thank you, Netgalley and Halle Butler's team for allowing me early access!

If you're a fan of Anna Dorn, Lisa Taddeo, or Ottessa Moshfegh, look no futher!

I read 'The New Me' last year, and I really enjoyed Halle Butler's writing style. I wasn't obsessed with that one, but I knew I wanted to give Halle Butler another shot with a different plot. Banal Nightmare follows a cast of characters in a Midwest town called 'X', primarily Moddie, a listless and dynamic character who is spiraling shortly after a break up with a long-term boyfriend that has caused her to flee her comfortable life in Chicago to the comfort of her childhood 'friends'. Though much of Banal Nightmare follows Moddie herself, Halle Butler also ushers us into the perspective of other side-characters, their failing marriages and their shameful sexual fantasies alongside the satirical interpersonal relationships with one another. I loved this omniscient narrator view of the friend group that gives each character so much more depth. All of these characters are tantalizingly hateable and unreliable. Relatable in one breath followed by a monologue so fucked up it could knock you off of your feet. Truly. Halle Butler's writing style has gotten funnier and smarter overall. The wit and charm and edge in this book is amazing.
I waffled back and forth on giving this one a 5 star. I feel like my dilemma with this one is not a dilemma I typically have with books.
- There were a LOT of characters. I could NOT keep some characters straight. Pam or Kim? Craig, David, Bobby? Bethany? Nina? Chrissy? TOO MANY. At first I got really hung up on keeping them all straight and making sure I was connecting each character to their back story, but after a while I decided to just keep reading even when I was a little lost. That made it so much more enjoyable for me, because I could spend more time enjoying the scenes and dialogue I was in.
This book made me laugh out loud several times. It took me a minute to get into it, but by the time I got to about the 50% mark, I had trouble putting it down.
Make sure to check trigger warnings. There's a pretty descriptive scene of SA in this one. Very poignant and though-provoking, but its in there nonetheless for those who may find that hard to read!

(3.5) this was like whatever the opposite of a self-help book is & i throughly enjoyed it. it was fun to commiserate with a cast of characters who are all equally unlikeable and want to escape their own lives. at times it was tough to get through because of all the meandering tangents, but the relatable parts (both hilarious and sad) hit hard.

“I am normal… I am relaxed.”

After finishing a Halle Butler book I am always left feeling full and empty all at once.

Banal Nightmare follows a variety of women and men who are simply trying to navigate life, trauma, death and suffering — which is actually just all apart of life.

Going into this book I figured this would be a strange sci-fi book but as I read more into it the title of this book was incredibly fitting. Their lives (which are very reflective of our lives) are so very dull and depressing but incredibly interesting?!? It’s crazy how Halle Butler can take something so mundane and make it so abnormal that you can’t help but be anything but interested.

It took me a moment to get into this book but once I hit chapter 5 I was hooked. I throughly enjoyed how introspective each character was. It became ridiculous and borderline insane (yet realistic) how quickly they all spiraled into their thoughts.

I enjoyed getting POV’s from all of the characters, even those we didn’t know or care much about. It let me see outside of what just Moddie thought of these people, this life and all that goes on it.

If you are looking for a good laugh but also some intense introspection/reflection this is the book for you!

***please check tw’s before reading!!

Thank you Net Galley and Penguin Random House for providing me with this arc in exchange for a honest review!!

I've been excited for Halle Butler's new novel since I put down THE NEW ME back in 2019. I was so impressed by that book, so I knew BANAL NIGHTMARE would be a banger.

The hardest part about this book is being in the mind of our protagonist Moddie, who hates absolutely everything and it's depressing and dark to be privy to her thoughts. To be fair, most of the characters in this book are also negative and sad and unhappy with their lives. It's the opposite of a happy and bright book, so be fore-warned!

Moddie leaves her life in Chicago, along with her terrible boyfriend of 10 years, to move back to her hometown which is centered around a liberal arts college. She has friends in town already, and also meets new people through them which sometimes changes the POV. It can be hard to follow occasionally since it can change from paragraph to paragraph, but Butler does an incredible job giving insight into all these different characters and their unhappy lives. They are eclectic, yuppie-leaning group of folks in 2018 feeling sorry for themselves while sending passive-aggressive emails to each other. It's a smart book, but unsettling and makes me sad for all of us in our 30s. It's a good book, but one that might not be for you depending on your mood.

Sharp, smart, mean--if you´ve read Halle Butler´s work before (Jillian, The New Me), you know the deal, but here she´s better than ever, richer, deeper, most confident. If you know you know.

literally insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! most unlikeable narrator i have EVER read, i think this book will be really decisive and hard to find its reader but slots in nicely with all the unhinged women vs the void tiktok books tbh. cover is so evocative too! interested to see what kind of reception this gets.

Book Review: Banal Nightmare by Halle Butler

For fans of…
• stream of consciousness
• millennial malaise
• toxic relationships
• no plot, just vibes

Synopsis: Thirty-something, small-time artist Moddie has just left a toxic relationship in Chicago and returned to her hometown where her old friends are older and much, much sadder. Giving herself a year off from reality/work, Moddie passes her days chain-smoking on her couch, awkwardly socializing, and torturing herself over leaving her ex—who she pines over while, in the same breath, comparing the man to Jeffrey Dahmer. With her fresh start, Moddie re-examines her life, leading her to unravel traumatizing events from her past and a potential new outlook on her future.

Though Moddie is the star of this show, Butler head-hops through a dozen or so other characters with jarring POV changes. Each character feels so real that as they mourn the lives they’d once dreamt of and face the banal nightmares of their realities, their meandering misery and vapid hostility are palpable.

Banal Nightmare is dryly funny at times, but overall, I kept hoping that more would happen.

(TW: sexual assault)

Not the best book I’ve read, not the worst. If you like authors like ottessa moshfegh or melissa border, you will probably like this!

Halle Butler’s novels are unique. The task of reading a story that is genuinely banal and entertaining at the same time can be difficult for some readers. But this novel certainly captures a recognizable feeling of malaise and anxiety that permeated throughout the 2010s. Not always fun to read, but glad that I finished. Has me thinking about how this novel fits in with her earlier works, especially since the main character leaves Chicago and returns to her hometown outside of the city or suburbs. While it didn't resonate with me as strongly as "The New Me," I appreciate this novel for all it does well.

I've read from this author before, and I feel the same way about her previous novel as I do about her upcoming novel. Halle Butler has talent, but her writing tends to be long-winded and unsatisfying. She has a lot to say but her prose feels like one big, long rant session. I enjoy unlikeable protagonists, so I should've enjoyed "Banal Nightmare" much more than I did. Her books always start out promising but start to unravel around the halfway mark. There's scenes and elements I liked about this book, but overall, I didn't feel connected to any of the characters. Everyone felt so interchangeable and over-the-top. This book is decent, just not anything to write home about. Such a disappointment. I did think the ending was funny though. Butler has a wicked sense of humor.

Thank you, Netgalley and Random House for the digital ARC.