A review by apalershadeofwhite
No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

4.0

My response after the first chapter was: what the hell? That was also my response for most of the book. The structure is very non-traditional; with segments lasting anywhere from one line to five to 17. The narrative style reminds me loosely of a diary entry, like My Name is Monster which I've read before but much shorter and more sporadic. I feel like I'm reading someone's random thoughts that they write in their notes app on their phone. Or on their private Instagram. It's so odd but very relatable. It makes me wonder how this book will age.

The change in POV is an interesting choice: from second to first to third person, sometimes even in the same segment! One paragraph can flip between being involved with both the royal and the personal "we" and change to being detached in the next sentence. I can see in every little part of this book that Lockwood is trying to startle readers; to make this book a unique reading experience. It's so incredibly modern and I can predict that there is definitely a mixed bag of reactions to this book. Like the classic saying, it's like Marmite: you'll either love it or you'll hate it.

Also, the references in the text are very modern; specifically from approximately 2017 at the earliest. Again, it makes me wonder how this book will age. Sometimes it feels like Lockwood is trying to address every social issue we've had in the past few years at once, which sometimes leave the text feeling all over the place.

But the more I think about this book, the more I love it. The writing style is truly unique (in my reading experience) and the content was really interesting. I would definitely recommend this book.