Emeline Robbins

I will preface with saying that I am partial to this kind of writing. It's very experimental, and kind of meta because there are parts of the book that talk about the characters writing experimental pieces. Part 2 kind of weirded me out just because of the style of writing but once I got used to it it was ok and made sense in context. I saw that a lot of people on here didn't like it (I read and formed my own opinion before I looked at other reviews) and say that it was mysogynystic or the exact type of anti feminist book that it itself was trying to dismantle. To that I say, I don't think you understood the book if you saw it that way. If you read to the end (which a lot of people on here say they didn't), you would see that all 3 major men in the book are there for very specific reasons. It only explains her falling out with "Lion" at the very end, and it's not what you'd expect based on the initial descriptions, which I think is the point. Jonah is just there for moral support and car rides, and Max.... well... not much I can say without spoiling. I will admit that it was less 'creepy' than I had hoped, but it was deeply disarming. It's brilliance is more subtle, and might take a small amount of thinking. For me, when I got to the climax, I didn't understand at first. I thought, 'wait, its [xyz trope]? Lame, that's been done before. Wait but that doesn't fit with [plot point]. So why is there [abc]--- OH.' The moment I got it, my heart skipped a beat, and I felt like the main character in that moment, because I assume she went through a similar thought process, which I can only assume was the point. Many people also say the main character is too much of a self-inflicted victim, or too whiny, and I think that just means you didn't read to the end. No one in an adequate mental state could be the main character of this book. A lot of the plot comes together in one big shocking moment. Everything suddenly makes sense, and the whole book is viewed in a new light. It's only about 300 pages, and for something so experimental, it really isn't a difficult read. If you're willing and want to give something new a chance, stick this book out and give it the time to develop.