No One Is Talking about This

Shout out to the house down the street that put a Santa hat, fairy lights, and LED eyes on their Home Depot skeleton, so that when I walked through the snow down the street listening to the final pages, tears streaming down my face because the loss in the context of hyperconnectedness they depict feels so real, is so resonant with loss I've left, I could wave at a viral eight foot skeleton guy and I know I wasn't quite alone.

Critiquing social media obsession with the steadiness of a fidget spinner and exploring grief in a way that would make Harambe proud. Full review here

I can see that this is a good book, and I cried a lot to it. Just, it's not the kind of book I was hoping to read. I was too annoyed by the tales from the internet, and then it got even more real life, which I was trying to avoid.

Stream of consciousness social media snarkiness meets the Proteus syndrome.

What happens when you are caught up in a world of self-important snarky social media memes, and then you run into something that challenges all you've ever thought about the meaning of life?

This is a powerful story, at times a little uneven, well work the read, especially for people that spend a lot of time online.

Brilliant and moving. I saw the book described as almost poetry, and I think that characterizes it well. It took me a little while to get into the rhythm of it, but then I enjoyed it a lot. She does an amazing job of dealing with a family tragedy and also capturing how our lives are now (both online and otherwise), including existence in the aftermath of the 2016 election. Incredibly sad in parts, but also very funny and it frequently had me laughing out loud. I'm so glad I read it.

crushing and beautiful and accurate and I can't wait to read (and cry through) it again

I'm very curious how someone who isn't extremely online would read this novel, but for me it was probably the most honest articulation of the experience of living with online? But also living with the weirdness and grief and absurdity and poetry of These Times, more generally. I want more books like this.