The scenes of intimacy are a particular masterclass, McCurdy linking Waldo’s masochism with the illusion of control in the very uneven power dynamic ... A bleak, often hilarious and uncomfortable triumph that underscores McCurdy’s talent for focusing in on the multilayered nature of trauma and artfully unpicking it, one scab at a time.
While the novel is certainly audacious and thought-provoking (particularly given McCurdy’s first-hand experience of such a relationship), Waldo never really came alive to me on the page ... The novel is undoubtedly a page-turner: the writing is razor-sharp, sparse and unpretentious.
The prose is often unwieldy and sometimes downright cringeworthy ... Waldo frequently lists emotions and adjectives in triplicate, and events that could be significant aren’t sufficiently explored or given enough space to breathe before the novel races on to the next thing. A debut novel with bright spots, but unbalanced and lacking in finesse.
