mariball's reviews
65 reviews

A timely book about the effects of late stage capitalism on an overworked woman who literally has a black hole following her since the day she was born. While I found her experiences about dealing with the black hole (i.e. depression) interesting and relatable, I was let down that the major conflicts of the book didn’t span out into something more intense or worthwhile. Plus the mention of the black hole on every other page got annoying after a while, and the ending felt abrupt after such a long, slow buildup to the inevitable. However I’d still recommend this book for those interested in the “Sad Girl Literature” trend that’s happening and don’t mind a book that’s more about vibes than plot. 

I went in not knowing anything about the Morlok quadruplets and how their lives contributed to the ongoing study of what causes schizophrenia.

The strongest parts of the book is the lives of the sisters themselves- who they were, their family history, how they grew up in a world that was ill-equipped to deal with the realities of mental illness and its effects. Additionally, another strong point was learning about David Rosenthal and how he ended up in charge of monitoring the quadruplets and using their case study to form his theory on what was responsible for the manifestation of schizophrenia. 

What prevented the book from getting a higher rating from me was the need to address so many topics and theories at once. The second half of the book is a direct result of that, feeling less cohesive and less focused as the first half. In addition, the second half fast forwarded so much of the sisters’ lives it felt like they became an afterthought as the author focused moreso on the different viewpoints of the cause of schizophrenia, culturally and scientifically. After spending so much time with the Morlok sisters in the first half it felt so off to see them revert in the background until the final chapter. All in all, though, it is a deeply interesting story and I’m glad to have learned about them and the researchers who genuinely wanted to find answers to their suffering.