RaveElectric LiteratureJillian is populated with characters that are stuck ... The beauty of this novel is that Butler handles their respective misery with deft clarity and dry wit, turning expectation on its head, only to prove its worth in the end ... jealousy and self-loathing...to Butler’s credit, comes across as funny and self-reflexively real ... that is the real challenge in this novel’s narrative; in order to empathize with Jillian and other characters, one is forced to reconcile the ugliness within themselves ... a narrative that flitters between consciences, pulling from each a side-long perspective of the human condition and revealing it to be unpredictable and dangerous, and, nevertheless, righteous ... a frank depiction of modern indecency, and a reflection of a generation that lacks any shred of a moral compass.
Halle Butler
PositiveElectric LiteratureThe beauty of this novel is that Butler handles their respective misery with deft clarity and dry wit, turning expectation on its head, only to prove its worth in the end ... [Jillian] is a walking contradiction, which at times bottoms-out to create some of the saddest and most endearing moments of the novel, but it’s impossible to ignore the fact that these moments are a direct result of Jillian’s own mistakes. And that is the real challenge in this novel’s narrative; in order to empathize with Jillian and other characters, one is force to reconcile the ugliness within themselves, the part of themselves that is needy and unreliable. Butler takes a real risk here, hinging the success of her novel on her readers’ ability to forgive themselves for being just as selfish and unaware as her characters ... Butler maneuvers the distance within her prose in a different direction, creating a narrative that flitters between consciences, pulling from each a side-long perspective of the human condition and revealing it to be unpredictable and dangerous, and, nevertheless, righteous ... A frank depiction of modern indecency, and a reflection of a generation that lacks any shred of a moral compass.
