DNF. a little too political and intense for the social climate for me, but other literary enthusiasts would really love this.

This is hilarious!
I've very much been enjoying these books about unhinged women fed up with society and unable to articulate what they want in the world as they struggle to engage in society like a normal person who has a filter when it comes to talking about the horrors of the modern world. This book gave me what I wanted. With similar themes and characterizations as Jen Beagin, Mellissa Broader and Ainsley Hogarth, Banal Nightmare follows a woman who upon breaking up with her toxic, limiting boyfriend, moves back to her hometown and tries to reconnect with old friends. She's a bit of an oddball who doesn't quite fit into the rules of how to engage in society. Unnamed, but clearly struggling with some mild mental health issues, our heroine navigates and tumbles through life in this mildly dark comedy. The book jumps from Moddie's pov to the people around her and we get glimpses into their dysfunctional and odd lives as well.

I forgot I had another Halle Bulter book on my reading list, and now I'll be sure to push it higher up on my list. This type of book, I feel, isn't for everyone. It's a bit dark, and has some raging feminism, commentary on society and inappropriate jokes that might not be fun for everyone but quite literally made me laugh out loud. From the first two pages, I knew I'd like this book and once I put it down, I immediately wanted more. 

The writing is so good! It's in short sentences and we're gifted all the information about the main character that we need. It's clear the Moddie is selfish and unable to read the room. She's a bit lost and her mental stability is wavering, alongside her breakup and lonely disposition, she's clearly hanging on. The narration reminds us over and over again that she's selfish, just shy of straight-up saying it, and we get the impression that the narrator in the book itself, is fed up with her.

This whole book is long meandering uncomfortable conversations among people who either hate each other or think hate each other but have history and therefore think they need to interact and have longer, more meandering conversations that are uncomfortable and awkward for everyone involved but they all pretend it's not. 

Don't get me wrong, I kind of loved it, but also as it went on, I was kind of bored. It's one of those books where nothing really happens but the narrator is really focused on the mental and emotional state of everyone. It's from the pov of a character who is specifically and very clearly meant to be unlikeable, however, she's incredibly relatable so it's all just like "why is this happening and why do I like it?" kind of reading. I did zone out a few times because truly it's very meandering, but also like, funny.

I honestly don't know if I loved or hated this book but it's kind of brilliant, and also a bit of a banal nightmare to read... I'll let myself out, thank you.

Unfortunately I DNF'ed this at around 40%... I wasn't able to get into the story and I spoke with others online who'd read it and gave it lukewarm reviews as well. I think a story like this that's built on a pessimistic protagonist and witty writing needs to move at quite a fast pace to hold attention... I'm thinking of the way Emily Austin writes or even Butler's other book, The New Me. This moved quite slow, and almost halfway in I still didn't see what direction this was going.

BANAL NIGHTMARE is the third novel in halle butler’s signature abrasive style. BANAL NIGHTMARE follows moddie, newly single and returning to the nondescript midwestern town she grew up in. between mingling with old frenemies, fixating on her failed relationship, obsessing over potential new relationships, and concocting elaborate social fantasies, moddie lands somewhere between her old self and a spectacularly new one.

BANAL NIGHTMARE’s strength is in butler’s candid observations and jarring humor. her ability to effortlessly capture millennial ennui, petty interpersonal slights, and contemporary social life is unmatched.

i did feel the novel lacked momentum, especially in the middle — of course, i typically don’t mind a plotless book, but at times the novel seemed to be mounting toward nothing. i think THE NEW ME and JILLIAN did a better job of employing butler’s style while remaining compelling. this book jumped between characters a lot, which offered some interesting POVs, but feuled the fractured nature of the book.

nonetheless, if you’re a butler fan, you can’t miss this one. even if the plot fell flat, the characters were compulsively hateable, the observations painfully incisive, and the social landscape bleak.

3.5/5 ⭐️

4.75 - I’ve read all of Butler’s books and this is my favorite by far. Every character is so wonderfully unlikeable and the way it’s written is just chefs kiss. Halle I love you!!

An interesting look at falling out of love, trying to make it on your own, and still missing the feeling of being loved (no matter how toxic that relationship truly was). Moddie has just broken up with her long-term boyfriend Nick, has left her town and friends in Chicago, and has found herself back in her hometown reeling from this failed relationship. She is reunited with old friends and the comfortable life she once lived. But Moddie and her friends all feel stuck: in dead in jobs, in marriages made from convenience, annoyance with the world around them. This is a deconstructed book about a friend group going through natural changes in their lives, feeling the need to break free from what has held them down for so long.

This was absolutely incredible. I found myself relating to a lot of the characters and their feelings regarding love and the navigation of the world around us. It was interesting to see not only Moddie's perspectivie, but her old boyfriend, her friends, and their partners throughout the book.

There were parts of this I really liked, but overall it did not work for me. I liked the glimpses into a lot of people’s lives, but it ultimately became difficult to keep all of the characters straight, especially since they all dealt with similar themes (infidelity, breaking up with a long term partner, boredom with life). There were large pages long swaths of rants that didn’t seem to hold much importance or move anything along. A lot of the rants just seemed to be the author wanting to insert her own thoughts. This is my third of Halle Butler’s books and the third I have felt meh on.

Halle Butler is once again the reigning master of satirizing millennials. I have so many thoughts about this book but I’ll try to keep it brief. I truly thought this book was a work of art in the sense that it perfectly captures this generation’s need to be perceived in a certain way by others- as intellectual, woke, whatever you want to call it- through the utterly insufferable characters. It’s one of those books that make you laugh because you recognize these character traits in people you know (or even yourself), and allows for self-reflection while also allowing us to laugh at the cringiness. Butler’s writing style is very manic and stream-of-consciousness, which kept me engaged throughout. Truly a unique book and probably Butler’s best.

This book felt like one that has been done time and time again. I typically like a character driven novel but this one made me bored out of my mind. A depressed character that made me depressed and not in the intensely emotional way that is enjoyable. It could have just been me but I’m glad it’s over.

God I loved this. You’re tossed into this world of sad funny people as they set their lives on fire, this satisfying mix of cringe and catharsis, glittery muck. The sour skittle of novels. I want to hear everything Halle Butler has to say.

I enjoyed this book from start to finish: the people were simultaneously awful and lovable based on their vacillating behavior and dubious opinions of themselves and others. Laugh-out-loud satire, and often embarrassingly relatable (as a millenial). I will read anything Butler writes. She understands how to write flawed, weird, and absorbing characters in a way that makes you want to devour the book in one sitting.

Sharp satire of millennial culture and behaviors, LOL-funny, smart, and poignant. I even winced a few times in painful recognition.

banal nightmare is written in halle butler’s signature outspoken style. which i absolutely love. it’s hilarious and dares to say out loud things we all think. aside from this writing style i found it hard to find much else in the book that i connected with.
i felt pretty lukewarm on all of the characters and the stream of consciousness style writing that flowed from perspective to perspective felt confusing at times.

i think the biggest heartbreak a lot of us have as adults is with friends, not necessarily romantic partners, which is why many of us keep people around even if they have been abusive to us or our loved ones. butler takes this simple dilemma and brings us into a complicated and dynamic social circle. revelations range from more benign things like crushes to more serious ones like sexual assault, but no matter how unredeemable these individuals seem to still have a place. this is perpetuated by the background of academia (specifically in the arts here) which made me all the more angry as i've seen these things happen as an academic with the big egos left standing almost always. i will admit that the relationships got hard to track at times; i had to keep notes regarding which characters were connected to who and in what ways. however, despite all my troubles getting into the writing for this reason, the earnesty of those trying to break free from these toxic dynamics felt earned by the end (at least for those who weren't beyond growth).

I grew obsessed with this book’s layered, complex narratives. Enjoyable and slightly upsetting (a Butler signature), Banal Nightmare will be sticking around in my head for weeks to come!

I gave this 3 stars basically because I finished it. I talked myself out of a DNF status several times. I thought I would love this because the description was right up my alley. I didn’t connect with the author’s writing style and felt that the very long chapters dragged.

It though this was a decent read. Like many lit fic titles the dialogue is pushed together like a fever dream.

Halle Butler's 'Banal Nightmare' is a brilliant exploration of the darkly funny and relatable aspects of the millennial experience. The narrative skillfully weaves humor into the mundane, creating a compelling tale that resonates with the intricacies of modern life.

Halle Butler just keeps getting better and better! If you enjoy her particular kind of neo-feminist weirdness, you will love "Banal Nightmare"! This will be on a lot of Best of 2024 lists I promise-This is a must-request! You can't help but root for Maddie as a complicated protagonist, and her world back home is so well-crafted that you feel like you are reading literary non-fiction. Five star take on women, relationships, and friendship.