Brutes

This was an odd but interesting book for me. I liked the style that it was written in and it flowed well. The characters were young and brutal to each other and that’s where I found it to be difficult to get into. I am giving it three stars.

Girls are vicious. Another book club book. This is a dark summer read. You have to love being uncomfortable to read this.

There is no “there,” there. The author is overindulgent in her narrative and leaves the reader unsatisfied with the myriad of directions all leading to dead ends. There are some absolutely beautiful lines of prose, but not enough to justify all of the confusion.

This novel left me in awe - of how Dizz Tate was able to pull of her storytelling from a craft perspective and also how effectively she used metaphor to discuss trauma. On a sentence level, the novel is brimming with gorgeous writing. The characters are absolutely effective. With the combination of collective first person that then breaks out into first person singular, she has created a wholly unique structure that kept me turning the pages, eager to uncover what was happening to this group of young friends. This book is a truly remarkable achievement! It is not for people who like easy or light reading. This is a work of literature that asks readers to spend some time with it, and I promise if you do, you will be so glad you did.

Eh. Not that I expected and not that great. Choppy and hard to follow. Ending was disappointing. Plot and characters were poorly developed

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars. This book made how I felt at 13 years old seems normal. The way the friend group sees their mothers and how they grew up to see themselves was very interesting and relevant.The writing style from Tate makes the mundane and ordinary come across beautiful and cinematic.

Wierd and quirky book. Absolutely loved it did drag in some parts but overall kept me interested. Felt as if u was transported to falls landing Florida.

A rambling mess. No distinct character development and never sure who was who and what was what. Left me slightly nauseous. PASS.

Disclaimer that there is very little plot here and much of what there is is very heavy in allegory so if that’s not your thing, maybe give it a miss

The writing is vivid & evocative. I love how the narrative moves between the collective voice ('we') and individual voices; kind of like in The Water Cure. This makes up for the slow pace and the fact that not much really happens. I also really like that the central ambiguity - what's real and what's imagined - is maintained for most of the book. It's such a shame that that ambiguity gets resolved in the last few pages. The ending feels rushed and forced; the author was clearly in a rush to tie up loose ends & resolve things as this was done in a way that felt very deliberate & on the nose.

I had to really persevere to actually finish this book. It was a relief when it was finally over, I really wanted to enjoy it, but I just couldn’t get into it. I still don’t really know what it was about.

Arrived in condition stated. Cannot wait to read this.

Likes are the language and the beautiful imageryDislikes are the confusing plot and character work. Hard to follow at time