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I read this book in a frenzy. A trauma narrative like others, yet all its own. Starting over when starting over is impossible. Brutal.
I COULD NOT PUT THIS DOWN. The story of a Haitian-American woman visiting family in Haiti, who is kidnapped, held for ransom for almost two weeks, and then released. It's brutal in describing her captivity and its aftermath, and also felt incredibly emotionally honest in describing her relationship with her white husband, both before and after the kidnapping.
Mireille lives in the US, but goes back to Haiti to visit her wealthy family in their compound, traveling with her husband and 10-month-old ...more
Mireille lives in the US, but goes back to Haiti to visit her wealthy family in their compound, traveling with her husband and 10-month-old ...more
I held my hand over the page a couple of times, reading through my fingers as if that could stop the words from being there. Beyond that, I just read and read and read for hours on end (it's 3 am as I write this, so....) I ran out of tissues more than once.
The sharp way Gay punctures straight through the brief fairy tales Miri relates pierced me every time. And the falling in love story - never mind it in juxtaposition to the bad to come - was so sharply observed and charming and left me in no ...more
The sharp way Gay punctures straight through the brief fairy tales Miri relates pierced me every time. And the falling in love story - never mind it in juxtaposition to the bad to come - was so sharply observed and charming and left me in no ...more
The thing about this book is that it is obviously very good, in that it has lots of literary merit and you care about the characters and they are fully drawn and so on.
But if you are a sensitive person, reading this book will upset you a lot. It will give you violent thoughts about fictional men, and make you so, so sad. It ruined my whole day and then the next day too.
But if you are a sensitive person, reading this book will upset you a lot. It will give you violent thoughts about fictional men, and make you so, so sad. It ruined my whole day and then the next day too.
Roxane Gay thanked Channing Tatum for his neck, in the acknowledgments for this novel. I thank him too, but also Gay, for this gorgeous, devastating book about the atrocities of man, and how sometimes, maybe, women survive them.
A harrowing plot; complex, well-wrought characters; beautiful prose and dialogue. I've read very few books that are so strong in all of these areas.
I've enjoyed Roxane Gay's other work around the internet: her voice, her humor, her feminism. I'm so glad that I picked up her first novel. "An Untamed State" was supposed to be my vacation read, but I couldn't put it down once I picked it up.
It's strange how engrossing a novel can be with such a dark subject matter; a Haitian-American woman is kidna ...more
I've enjoyed Roxane Gay's other work around the internet: her voice, her humor, her feminism. I'm so glad that I picked up her first novel. "An Untamed State" was supposed to be my vacation read, but I couldn't put it down once I picked it up.
It's strange how engrossing a novel can be with such a dark subject matter; a Haitian-American woman is kidna ...more
I'm sad at how bored I was reading this. I could see how 1st person narration would work with Mireille's chapters because she'd be talking to herself while in captivity. But with Michael's chapters, it continued and there was so much telling - overmuch. A distancing amount of telling me things.
...more
I am probably going to give this four stars, only because I don't do five very often, but this is a strong contender.
This is an absolutely gut wrenching story about violence and sexual abuse. I have not experienced anything remotely like this, but feel like Gay has done a great job of showing how one might survive and struggle. Probably needs the biggest trigger warning ever, but if you are willing, it is food for thought. ...more
This is an absolutely gut wrenching story about violence and sexual abuse. I have not experienced anything remotely like this, but feel like Gay has done a great job of showing how one might survive and struggle. Probably needs the biggest trigger warning ever, but if you are willing, it is food for thought. ...more
This was super hard to read, but the way Roxane Gay combines words to constuct the most beautiful sentences and feelings and sense of place is exquisite.
Pretty harrowing to read, but well done
Feb 12, 2014
Flora
marked it as lost-interest-in
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review of another edition
Shelves:
the-toast-adjacent
Apr 16, 2014
Jessica
marked it as to-read
Apr 24, 2014
Sharone
marked it as to-read
May 09, 2014
Allison
marked it as to-read
Oct 28, 2014
Caitlin
marked it as to-read
Jan 02, 2015
Maggie
marked it as to-read
