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Baby
‘Cynthia can understand how Anahera feels just by looking at her body.’
Cynthia is twenty-one, bored and desperately waiting for something big to happen. Her striking fitness instructor, Anahera, is ready to throw in the towel on her job and marriage. With stolen money and a dog in tow they run away and buy ‘Baby’, an old boat docked in the Bay of Islands, where Cynthia dreams they will live in a state of love. But strange events on an empty island turn their life together in a different direction.
Baby is a sunburnt psychological thriller of obsession and escape by one of the most exciting new voices in New Zealand fiction.
Cynthia is twenty-one, bored and desperately waiting for something big to happen. Her striking fitness instructor, Anahera, is ready to throw in the towel on her job and marriage. With stolen money and a dog in tow they run away and buy ‘Baby’, an old boat docked in the Bay of Islands, where Cynthia dreams they will live in a state of love. But strange events on an empty island turn their life together in a different direction.
Baby is a sunburnt psychological thriller of obsession and escape by one of the most exciting new voices in New Zealand fiction.
263 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2017
37 people are currently reading
2246 people want to read
About the author
Annaleese Jochems
2 books28 followersAnnaleese Jochems was born in 1994 and grew up in Northland. She won the 2016 Adam Prize from the International Institute of Modern Letters for Baby, which is her first book.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews
July 18, 2019
Assigned. Weird, but oddly absorbing little book. Definitely not for mass consumption.
3 stars
3 stars
February 19, 2019
*https://theburgeoningbookshelf.blogsp...
3.5 stars
I can’t say I loved this book but it certainly was compelling reading. It’s not a book to be loved; it’s a dark story of obsession, both possessive and self.
It takes place over a relatively short period of time. There is very little before in the telling.
Cynthia is a young woman of 21 but she looks and acts much younger. She runs away with Anahera, her fitness instructor.
Cynthia’s mind is chaotic, she flits from highs to lows and as the story is in her POV it makes the story also quite chaotic. She is constantly internally obsessing over Anahera’s love for her.
Cynthia has no conscience; her only thoughts are what Cynthia needs and what Cynthia wants. She was a complex character easily obsessed and just as easily bored.
I wasn’t sure where the story was heading until a third character was introduced that completely changed the dynamics of the plot. A male is introduced who is also interested in Anahera and he will not so easily pander to Cynthia’s moods.
The setting of the boat was both claustrophobic and atmospheric. The characters could not easily get away from each other which made for some volatile scenes
The characters have no past and what little we do learn is unreliable as to its truth.
This is a strangely compelling read and I was intrigued to find out what would happen next.
Baby is a tautly written dark satire on the age of entitlement and self obsession.
3.5 stars
I can’t say I loved this book but it certainly was compelling reading. It’s not a book to be loved; it’s a dark story of obsession, both possessive and self.
It takes place over a relatively short period of time. There is very little before in the telling.
Cynthia is a young woman of 21 but she looks and acts much younger. She runs away with Anahera, her fitness instructor.
Cynthia’s mind is chaotic, she flits from highs to lows and as the story is in her POV it makes the story also quite chaotic. She is constantly internally obsessing over Anahera’s love for her.
Cynthia has no conscience; her only thoughts are what Cynthia needs and what Cynthia wants. She was a complex character easily obsessed and just as easily bored.
I wasn’t sure where the story was heading until a third character was introduced that completely changed the dynamics of the plot. A male is introduced who is also interested in Anahera and he will not so easily pander to Cynthia’s moods.
The setting of the boat was both claustrophobic and atmospheric. The characters could not easily get away from each other which made for some volatile scenes
The characters have no past and what little we do learn is unreliable as to its truth.
This is a strangely compelling read and I was intrigued to find out what would happen next.
Baby is a tautly written dark satire on the age of entitlement and self obsession.
April 6, 2018
The only reason that I picked up this book was that it was shortlisted for the NZ book awards. I found the book so tedious, with a ridiculous plot, unconvincing characters and dialogue. It is the worst book I have read for years. There was no sense of place. It was a very boring book about self-absorbed people doing nothing apart from occasional nonsensical acts of violence. In fact it was so bad, I felt compelled to check the criteria for the book awards as I am really annoyed I wasted time reading it. Apparently, the book is supposed to meet the following criteria -
- Enduring literary merit and the overall quality of authorship
- Impact of the book on the community, taking account of factors such as topicality, public
interest, commercial viability, entertainment, cultural and educational values, lifespan and
value for money.
- For the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize, the degree to which the book engages and nourishes
the reader’s intellect and imagination and, for short story collections, to which the stories are a
unified and coherent whole
I just don't see how this book 'nourishes the intellect and imagination' and I am not convinced by the literary merit. Just try speaking the dialogue out loud for a start.
It is a first book - so my main gripe is that it was shortlisted!!! If it had not been, I would be happy as I would not have bothered reading it........
- Enduring literary merit and the overall quality of authorship
- Impact of the book on the community, taking account of factors such as topicality, public
interest, commercial viability, entertainment, cultural and educational values, lifespan and
value for money.
- For the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize, the degree to which the book engages and nourishes
the reader’s intellect and imagination and, for short story collections, to which the stories are a
unified and coherent whole
I just don't see how this book 'nourishes the intellect and imagination' and I am not convinced by the literary merit. Just try speaking the dialogue out loud for a start.
It is a first book - so my main gripe is that it was shortlisted!!! If it had not been, I would be happy as I would not have bothered reading it........
February 21, 2019
3.5★s
Annaleese Jochems’s award-winning debut novel, Baby starts off fairly ordinary, even a bit boring, and just a little strange. That needs a slightly strange protagonist, and Cynthia fits the bill: twenty-one going on thirteen, completely self-absorbed, with a massive crush on her gym instructor, Anahera. Cynthia suggests they run away together. That night, Anahera turns up, split from her husband, apparently seeking refuge. By the following morning, Cynthia has emptied her father’s bank account, packed a few things and set off with Anahera to Paihia with plans to buy a boat. Cynthia barely remembers to take along her beloved dog, Snot-head.
That evening, they are in the Bay of Islands, aboard Baby, a little three-berth boat complete with dinghy, with Cynthia trying to hide Snot-head’s little vomits. The story trundles along as the women bemoan their financial situation, Anahera takes daily swims to the nearby island and Cynthia tries to implement her brilliant idea for making money online. By now, the reader is wondering if Cynthia is incredibly naïve, because it sure looks like Anahera is using her in some way. And then (about halfway) the story takes a turn in an almost surreal direction.
The narrative is from Cynthia’s perspective, and her addiction to reality TV colours the melodramas she envisages will happen. Jochems has a talent for descriptive prose (“They sit waiting, as if sense is going to arrive to them on their boat in the post.”) and some scenes are vivid enough to elicit discomfort or disgust.
While neither Cynthia nor Anahera are likeable women, their behaviour makes them interesting enough for the reader to keep turning pages just to know what they are going to do and say next. It’s a fascinating ride (like witnessing a train wreck), watching almost-normal unravel into bizarre, and bizarre morph into chilling. A compelling debut novel that is likely to polarise readers.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Scribe Australia and Better Reading Preview.
Annaleese Jochems’s award-winning debut novel, Baby starts off fairly ordinary, even a bit boring, and just a little strange. That needs a slightly strange protagonist, and Cynthia fits the bill: twenty-one going on thirteen, completely self-absorbed, with a massive crush on her gym instructor, Anahera. Cynthia suggests they run away together. That night, Anahera turns up, split from her husband, apparently seeking refuge. By the following morning, Cynthia has emptied her father’s bank account, packed a few things and set off with Anahera to Paihia with plans to buy a boat. Cynthia barely remembers to take along her beloved dog, Snot-head.
That evening, they are in the Bay of Islands, aboard Baby, a little three-berth boat complete with dinghy, with Cynthia trying to hide Snot-head’s little vomits. The story trundles along as the women bemoan their financial situation, Anahera takes daily swims to the nearby island and Cynthia tries to implement her brilliant idea for making money online. By now, the reader is wondering if Cynthia is incredibly naïve, because it sure looks like Anahera is using her in some way. And then (about halfway) the story takes a turn in an almost surreal direction.
The narrative is from Cynthia’s perspective, and her addiction to reality TV colours the melodramas she envisages will happen. Jochems has a talent for descriptive prose (“They sit waiting, as if sense is going to arrive to them on their boat in the post.”) and some scenes are vivid enough to elicit discomfort or disgust.
While neither Cynthia nor Anahera are likeable women, their behaviour makes them interesting enough for the reader to keep turning pages just to know what they are going to do and say next. It’s a fascinating ride (like witnessing a train wreck), watching almost-normal unravel into bizarre, and bizarre morph into chilling. A compelling debut novel that is likely to polarise readers.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Scribe Australia and Better Reading Preview.
May 27, 2019
(2.5) Well, this was one of the most peculiar novels I've ever read. I'm almost stumped as to what to say about it.
I'll start with the basics. Set in New Zealand, it centres on a twentysomething woman, Cynthia, who has what appears to be a passionate obsession with her yoga instructor, Anahera. Cynthia invites Anahera to run away with her, and Anahera, who happens to be in the middle of a divorce, unexpectedly agrees. Cynthia clears out her dad's bank account and the two of them (accompanied by Cynthia's dog, whose name is... Snot-head) buy a boat, the eponymous Baby. Something that Cynthia delusionally perceives as an idyllic escape is interrupted by two things: 1) the two women sort of – inadvertently – kill someone, and 2) a man called Gordon inserts himself into their relationship.
Everything about Baby is strange. The characters' motivations are completely opaque; the dialogue sometimes makes them sound like robots. (The first thing Gordon says when he meets Cynthia and Anahera is 'I am a German man'.) The bubble they exist in seems cut off from reality, and not just because they're on a boat. For all that, there's an irresistible rhythm to it and I wanted to read on – if only in some attempt to figure out what the hell was going on.
I'm surprised to see that numerous other reviewers have interpreted Baby as a comment on millennial lifestyles and Young Women Today. It's so very odd – Cynthia's (and, for that matter, the others') actions so far removed from anything that could be considered normal under any circumstances – that it feels (to me) entirely disconnected from the real world. True, Cynthia obsessively watches reality TV on her phone and treats the machinations of The Bachelor contestants as a kind of guide for life. But Cynthia also appears to be a psychopath, so I'm not sure anything she does should be treated as representative of her generation.
I might have been a bit more generous with my rating, but a few days later I read Melissa Broder's The Pisces – a similarly quirky novel, but much more successful in terms of structure, character development, use of humour, just about everything really. The Pisces is such an assured handling of a lost, idiosyncratic protagonist that it made Baby's flaws more glaring in retrospect. Annaleese Jochems is very young (she was 22 when Baby was published) and obviously very talented; what she attempts here doesn't quite come off, but I'm still excited to read more from her.
I received an advance review copy of Baby from the publisher through Edelweiss.
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I'll start with the basics. Set in New Zealand, it centres on a twentysomething woman, Cynthia, who has what appears to be a passionate obsession with her yoga instructor, Anahera. Cynthia invites Anahera to run away with her, and Anahera, who happens to be in the middle of a divorce, unexpectedly agrees. Cynthia clears out her dad's bank account and the two of them (accompanied by Cynthia's dog, whose name is... Snot-head) buy a boat, the eponymous Baby. Something that Cynthia delusionally perceives as an idyllic escape is interrupted by two things: 1) the two women sort of – inadvertently – kill someone, and 2) a man called Gordon inserts himself into their relationship.
Everything about Baby is strange. The characters' motivations are completely opaque; the dialogue sometimes makes them sound like robots. (The first thing Gordon says when he meets Cynthia and Anahera is 'I am a German man'.) The bubble they exist in seems cut off from reality, and not just because they're on a boat. For all that, there's an irresistible rhythm to it and I wanted to read on – if only in some attempt to figure out what the hell was going on.
I'm surprised to see that numerous other reviewers have interpreted Baby as a comment on millennial lifestyles and Young Women Today. It's so very odd – Cynthia's (and, for that matter, the others') actions so far removed from anything that could be considered normal under any circumstances – that it feels (to me) entirely disconnected from the real world. True, Cynthia obsessively watches reality TV on her phone and treats the machinations of The Bachelor contestants as a kind of guide for life. But Cynthia also appears to be a psychopath, so I'm not sure anything she does should be treated as representative of her generation.
I might have been a bit more generous with my rating, but a few days later I read Melissa Broder's The Pisces – a similarly quirky novel, but much more successful in terms of structure, character development, use of humour, just about everything really. The Pisces is such an assured handling of a lost, idiosyncratic protagonist that it made Baby's flaws more glaring in retrospect. Annaleese Jochems is very young (she was 22 when Baby was published) and obviously very talented; what she attempts here doesn't quite come off, but I'm still excited to read more from her.
I received an advance review copy of Baby from the publisher through Edelweiss.
TinyLetter | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr
October 15, 2019
This has to be the strangest book I have ever read. It was so bad I couldn’t look away.
Read
November 9, 2018I honest to god don't know if I loved or hated this one, and I suspect that's the genius of it.
February 17, 2019
Oh, Baby! Jochems is New Zealand’s answer to July, Moshfegh and Kleeman. This weird book is dark and demented. Bored women getting up to all kinds of trouble. Evocative of Heavenly Creatures, it’s a pretty wild ride.
November 3, 2017
Wow, what an amazing talent this young woman is. All of 23 years of age, there is both an urgency and energy to her writing way beyond her youth. Her insight into how social media, celebrity culture, the culture of 'me', and how the resultant obsession with self has manipulated her generation of young people is spectacular. The result is a monster of a young woman, the 21 year old Cynthia, whose life and existence is completely dominated by her dangerously self absorbed, meaningless and boring existence.
This novel is well and truly a modern urban cautionary fable, about that privileged and over indulged generation us oldies like to call entitled, how their perception of self is so out of whack, and the consequences when it all goes wrong. A total nut job. I have already admitted I am the wrong demographic for this novel, even though I get what is going on (I think), but my 20 year old daughter, clearly of the same demographic as Cynthia and the author thought the book way too weird to continue reading. I wouldn't go so far as to say it is weird, but it is certainly disturbing.
Cynthia has a life of nothing. She has been to university, although it is not clear if she completed her degree or dropped out. She has no job, lives at her father's home, a man who appears to be both physically and emotionally absent, but he does have a great bank balance, spends all her time on her phone, watching movies, playing with her dog Snot-head (who calls their dog such a name?) and doing yoga. Anahera is the yoga instructor, a slightly older woman, with whom Cynthia becomes obsessed. When Anahera turns up on her doorstep claiming she has left her husband, the madness begins. After raiding her father's bank account, they drive off to Paihia, where absurdly, they purchase a boat called Baby, living on it just off the shore of Paihia beach.
Talk about cabin fever. As the days pass, and with no fixed plan of action, they begin to run out of money, Snot-head does not take well to marine life, Anahera remains disturbingly elusive, wanting to spend all her time swimming from the boat to an off shore island. Their random existence leads them to random encounters with others, none of which end well, Cynthia increasingly out of touch with reality, out of control with her emotions and actions.
So a bizarre plot with not a single likeable or even relatable character. All using each other for their own ends, the lines of communication and connection are constantly twisted and warped. The novel is narrated entirely from Cynthia's self-absorbed perspective, so cleverly we get to find out very little about the other characters and what is going on in their minds with the strange set up they find themselves in.
I wouldn't say I enjoyed this book, some very strange and disturbing stuff goes on. But as an insight into the over stimulated mind of a young person it is extraordinary. As is the quality of the writing, the low level tension held through out, beginning with the first line - "Cynthia can understand how Anahera feels just by looking at her body.", to the last paragraph - "For now, she shifts her head from one side to the other, resting it. Time passes and the trees are silent. A small winged bug lands on her wrist then flies away. She doesn't notice." This is an amazing new voice in NZ writing, we should treasure and nurture her, she will go onto great things.
This novel is well and truly a modern urban cautionary fable, about that privileged and over indulged generation us oldies like to call entitled, how their perception of self is so out of whack, and the consequences when it all goes wrong. A total nut job. I have already admitted I am the wrong demographic for this novel, even though I get what is going on (I think), but my 20 year old daughter, clearly of the same demographic as Cynthia and the author thought the book way too weird to continue reading. I wouldn't go so far as to say it is weird, but it is certainly disturbing.
Cynthia has a life of nothing. She has been to university, although it is not clear if she completed her degree or dropped out. She has no job, lives at her father's home, a man who appears to be both physically and emotionally absent, but he does have a great bank balance, spends all her time on her phone, watching movies, playing with her dog Snot-head (who calls their dog such a name?) and doing yoga. Anahera is the yoga instructor, a slightly older woman, with whom Cynthia becomes obsessed. When Anahera turns up on her doorstep claiming she has left her husband, the madness begins. After raiding her father's bank account, they drive off to Paihia, where absurdly, they purchase a boat called Baby, living on it just off the shore of Paihia beach.
Talk about cabin fever. As the days pass, and with no fixed plan of action, they begin to run out of money, Snot-head does not take well to marine life, Anahera remains disturbingly elusive, wanting to spend all her time swimming from the boat to an off shore island. Their random existence leads them to random encounters with others, none of which end well, Cynthia increasingly out of touch with reality, out of control with her emotions and actions.
So a bizarre plot with not a single likeable or even relatable character. All using each other for their own ends, the lines of communication and connection are constantly twisted and warped. The novel is narrated entirely from Cynthia's self-absorbed perspective, so cleverly we get to find out very little about the other characters and what is going on in their minds with the strange set up they find themselves in.
I wouldn't say I enjoyed this book, some very strange and disturbing stuff goes on. But as an insight into the over stimulated mind of a young person it is extraordinary. As is the quality of the writing, the low level tension held through out, beginning with the first line - "Cynthia can understand how Anahera feels just by looking at her body.", to the last paragraph - "For now, she shifts her head from one side to the other, resting it. Time passes and the trees are silent. A small winged bug lands on her wrist then flies away. She doesn't notice." This is an amazing new voice in NZ writing, we should treasure and nurture her, she will go onto great things.
April 6, 2018
Right, let's lay this out right at the start. This is a marmite book with a capital M. It's full of dislikable, even noxious characters. The main protagonist is a self-absorbed millennial who seems fairly divorced from reality while semi-obsessed with reality TV, an unreliable narrator who snaps to judgement of others while having her own house in disorder.
But despite all of that (and things that might annoy me in other books), for some reason, BABY just works for me. It's a heck of a read - intense and unsettling - and Jochems is quite the writing talent. And perhaps its that writing talent that carries the day, allowing things to flow where they might go right off the rails into caricature or tedium in lesser hands. Jochems grabs the reader's attention from the start, luring us in, and adroitly cajoles us through some bizarre and disturbing places. We go willingly, even if it's not comfortable and often provokes plenty of scowls and furrowed brows.
Cynthia is a former university student, we think (did she graduate or drop out? it's never quite clear? Or did she even go at all?), who is drifting and rather aimless. She becomes obsessed with her fitness instructor Anahera, and fantasizes about future possibilities. When Anahera's marriage implodes and she needs to escape, the pair team up and head for the Bay of Islands, a scenic coastal area a couple of hours north of Auckland. Cynthia has funded their getaway with ill-gotten funds, but that doesn't matter because it's her life and her adventure, right? And Anahera is everything she wants. Or not.
Jochems keeps us off-kilter throughout. We're never sure whether the view we're getting has much connection to reality, and there's always a lurking sense of unease. Like something horrible is about to happen, or has already happened off-stage and we've yet to find out. Is Cynthia really just an airheaded young dreamer who can't see beyond herself, or something much more sinister? Is Anahera taking advantage of her young admirer, or the one being taken advantage of? As the pages whir there's always a pulsing red light just out of view, danger, danger - but of what, and to whom?
This is an unusual book. Jochems is a talented writer, but I can envisage some readers not 'getting' the book, and others disliking it or finding it 'too weird' even if they get it. Others, like myself, might find themselves greatly admiring the tale and hurtling through it, even if they never really empathisise with any of the characters. Did I enjoy the read? Enjoy is a tricky word with this one. BABY is unsettling, discomforting, off-kilter. I was fascinated by the read, is perhaps the best way to put it.
There are a lot of themes weaving through what can seem like a rather simple storyline, adding layers and provoking plenty of thoughts. It's the kind of book that stays with you long after you close the final page. Jochems crafts an atmospheric, claustrophobic, sense of place and the relationship between the two women and the other people they encounter on their adventure. Some questions are answered, others are left open. This is not your typical read, but it's an intense, extraordinarily clever psychological thriller that has hints of the likes of REBECCA or THE BIRD TRIBUNAL while being something quite original and all of its own. Give it a go and see what you think.
But despite all of that (and things that might annoy me in other books), for some reason, BABY just works for me. It's a heck of a read - intense and unsettling - and Jochems is quite the writing talent. And perhaps its that writing talent that carries the day, allowing things to flow where they might go right off the rails into caricature or tedium in lesser hands. Jochems grabs the reader's attention from the start, luring us in, and adroitly cajoles us through some bizarre and disturbing places. We go willingly, even if it's not comfortable and often provokes plenty of scowls and furrowed brows.
Cynthia is a former university student, we think (did she graduate or drop out? it's never quite clear? Or did she even go at all?), who is drifting and rather aimless. She becomes obsessed with her fitness instructor Anahera, and fantasizes about future possibilities. When Anahera's marriage implodes and she needs to escape, the pair team up and head for the Bay of Islands, a scenic coastal area a couple of hours north of Auckland. Cynthia has funded their getaway with ill-gotten funds, but that doesn't matter because it's her life and her adventure, right? And Anahera is everything she wants. Or not.
Jochems keeps us off-kilter throughout. We're never sure whether the view we're getting has much connection to reality, and there's always a lurking sense of unease. Like something horrible is about to happen, or has already happened off-stage and we've yet to find out. Is Cynthia really just an airheaded young dreamer who can't see beyond herself, or something much more sinister? Is Anahera taking advantage of her young admirer, or the one being taken advantage of? As the pages whir there's always a pulsing red light just out of view, danger, danger - but of what, and to whom?
This is an unusual book. Jochems is a talented writer, but I can envisage some readers not 'getting' the book, and others disliking it or finding it 'too weird' even if they get it. Others, like myself, might find themselves greatly admiring the tale and hurtling through it, even if they never really empathisise with any of the characters. Did I enjoy the read? Enjoy is a tricky word with this one. BABY is unsettling, discomforting, off-kilter. I was fascinated by the read, is perhaps the best way to put it.
There are a lot of themes weaving through what can seem like a rather simple storyline, adding layers and provoking plenty of thoughts. It's the kind of book that stays with you long after you close the final page. Jochems crafts an atmospheric, claustrophobic, sense of place and the relationship between the two women and the other people they encounter on their adventure. Some questions are answered, others are left open. This is not your typical read, but it's an intense, extraordinarily clever psychological thriller that has hints of the likes of REBECCA or THE BIRD TRIBUNAL while being something quite original and all of its own. Give it a go and see what you think.
February 21, 2018
I read this book as the February pick for the Gouda Book Club, the book club my best friend Daphne and I started together.
I really hated this book. It was disturbing and surreal and uncomfortable, and I realise that that was the point, that I was supposed to be disturbed and uncomfortable, but I couldn't appreciate what it was trying to accomplish, because it was all so fucking nasty. I got the point; I just didn't like the point. This book made me feel dirty. It got under my skin, grimy and loathsome, making me squirm in, I suspect, exactly the way Jochems wanted. The longer I think about it, the clearer it becomes that I was not supposed to enjoy this book. Maybe some people like to be challenged in such a way -- certainly, the number of glowing reviews this book has received, particularly from celebrated Kiwi authors, indicate that many people loved how noxious this book made them feel -- but I read books to enjoy them, not to sit through something that is purposefully trying to provoke and unsettle me. There are better ways to make a book memorable than that.
I really hated this book. It was disturbing and surreal and uncomfortable, and I realise that that was the point, that I was supposed to be disturbed and uncomfortable, but I couldn't appreciate what it was trying to accomplish, because it was all so fucking nasty. I got the point; I just didn't like the point. This book made me feel dirty. It got under my skin, grimy and loathsome, making me squirm in, I suspect, exactly the way Jochems wanted. The longer I think about it, the clearer it becomes that I was not supposed to enjoy this book. Maybe some people like to be challenged in such a way -- certainly, the number of glowing reviews this book has received, particularly from celebrated Kiwi authors, indicate that many people loved how noxious this book made them feel -- but I read books to enjoy them, not to sit through something that is purposefully trying to provoke and unsettle me. There are better ways to make a book memorable than that.
March 19, 2018
3.5 stars.
Talk about taking millennial-hood to monstrous proportions. From being obsessed with self and social media, and reading too much into everything, the experience of being a young, aimless, inexperienced woman is magnified to such a scale that it becomes scary and unrecognisable. After a few days ruminating on this story, I’m still unsure how I feel about it. I can’t say I loved it. I found the story intense, weird, and disturbing, and felt the same way about the characters (especially our narrator). For sure, the dynamics between them all were very strange. I did greatly admire Annaleese Jochem’s writing. Even as I felt unsettled, and not necessarily in a good way, I couldn’t stop myself from turning the pages and seeing it through. She had my attention, and I’m excited to see what she comes up with next!
Talk about taking millennial-hood to monstrous proportions. From being obsessed with self and social media, and reading too much into everything, the experience of being a young, aimless, inexperienced woman is magnified to such a scale that it becomes scary and unrecognisable. After a few days ruminating on this story, I’m still unsure how I feel about it. I can’t say I loved it. I found the story intense, weird, and disturbing, and felt the same way about the characters (especially our narrator). For sure, the dynamics between them all were very strange. I did greatly admire Annaleese Jochem’s writing. Even as I felt unsettled, and not necessarily in a good way, I couldn’t stop myself from turning the pages and seeing it through. She had my attention, and I’m excited to see what she comes up with next!
December 7, 2021
Narrated from Cynthia’s point of view, her narcissism and self-obsession often made it difficult for me to understand exactly what was happening because her reactions and tone were seemingly inconsistent with the events she was narrating. Being caught in her head was an alienating - and often monotonous - experience due to her warped way of seeing the world and frequent non-sequiturs.
I understood there to be some comment on self-obsession and the 21st century here, however, Cynthia wasn’t even vaguely reminiscent of any young women I know, and so I felt that this missed the mark a little bit and was an ungenerous examination of millennial culture.
Having said that, ‘Baby’ was unlike anything I have read recently and had a nightmarish quality to it that made it a bit memorable, I suppose...
I understood there to be some comment on self-obsession and the 21st century here, however, Cynthia wasn’t even vaguely reminiscent of any young women I know, and so I felt that this missed the mark a little bit and was an ungenerous examination of millennial culture.
Having said that, ‘Baby’ was unlike anything I have read recently and had a nightmarish quality to it that made it a bit memorable, I suppose...
December 21, 2022
psychological thriller where? this was boring sorry
lacked so much description. couldn’t picture the characters at all. didn’t understand what the fuck the point was.
“strange events on an empty island” literally nothing interesting happens. nothing of consequence. zero stakes.
lacked so much description. couldn’t picture the characters at all. didn’t understand what the fuck the point was.
“strange events on an empty island” literally nothing interesting happens. nothing of consequence. zero stakes.
October 9, 2019
This was a strange little story. It will probably appeal to readers who liked The First Bad Man by Miranda July or My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. Similar to those books, it is a very character driven story that doesn’t have a lot of plot. Sometimes this works for me and sometimes it doesn’t. Here, it was right on the edge of really becoming great, but something felt like it was missing.
The book follows a millennial-type girl who’s young, inexperienced, and has been given a lot, though she is lost and doesn't really know what to do with her life. It is interested in the lackadaisical, compulsive, and obsessive behavior of the twenty-something mindset (and before you get your panties in a twist—I fall into that category too!).
Though parts of the story are compelling, to me, it didn’t feel like it had enough. It wants to be putting forth a statement about the way social media, reality TV, and other aspects of modern life change the way we think and interact with other people, in a sometimes dark and disastrous way. But it just walks the line and never fully commits.
Jochems is obviously a talented writer though, and I can see her developing into a force to be reckoned with.
My thanks to Scribe Books for my copy of this one to read and review.
The book follows a millennial-type girl who’s young, inexperienced, and has been given a lot, though she is lost and doesn't really know what to do with her life. It is interested in the lackadaisical, compulsive, and obsessive behavior of the twenty-something mindset (and before you get your panties in a twist—I fall into that category too!).
Though parts of the story are compelling, to me, it didn’t feel like it had enough. It wants to be putting forth a statement about the way social media, reality TV, and other aspects of modern life change the way we think and interact with other people, in a sometimes dark and disastrous way. But it just walks the line and never fully commits.
Jochems is obviously a talented writer though, and I can see her developing into a force to be reckoned with.
My thanks to Scribe Books for my copy of this one to read and review.
Read
September 30, 2021Sultry, sinister, hilarious and demented, Baby blazes with intelligence and murderous black humour. Heavenly Creatures for a new generation.
Eleanor Catton, Author of Man Booker Prize-winning The Luminaries
Patricia Highsmith meets reality TV in this compelling debut. Jochems nudges up the tension until we can’t bear to look — and can’t bear to look away: thrilling, dangerous, and deliciously funny.
Catherine Chidgey, prize-winning author of The Wish Child and The Beat of the Pendulum
This funny, sexy, unnerving novel challenges received ideas and delivers jolts of pleasure and disquiet throughout. Jochems, like her extraordinary creation Cynthia, is a force to be reckoned with.
Emily Perkins, author of The Forrests and Novel About My Wife
Taut, savvy, biting, and at points piercingly beautiful — Jochems’s sentences shift from deadpan humour to lyrical simplicity to emotional menace with deft, edgy style.
Tracey Slaughter, author of Deleted Scenes for Lovers
This year’s best local debut novel.
Metro
Baby is a funny, taut, relentless fever-dream of a novel. Buy it and read it now, and you can brag about it one day the way people who bought and read Emily Perkins’ Not Her Real Name in 1996 do today.
Louise Kasza, The Spinoff
An amazing, fresh voice in New Zealand fiction.
Jenna Todd, RNZ
In Cynthia, she has crafted a memorable monster. Creepy and subversive, Baby is a classy debut.
Linda Herrick, NZ Listener
Sparse and tantalising in its unfolding, it never quite allows you to get your sea legs.
Ruth Spencer, NZ Herald
Baby tells a bizarre story of obsession and desire and takes a satirical look at the millennial condition … However the cleverness of Jochems’ writing ensures Baby is not only a strange and claustrophobic book but also a pretty good one.
Catie McLeod, The Saturday Paper
From page one, Baby is a dryly funny study of a young woman driven to shocking acts by what seems like boredom and lust alone, devoid of any semblance of a conscience … Come to Baby for a full-blown psychopath who makes you laugh out loud despite your horror.
Rebecca Varcoe, The Saturday Age
Compelling reading.
The Burgeoning Bookshelf
An original and accomplished first work.
Helen Elliott, Weekend Australian
Cynthia doesn’t disappoint. As we meet her, she embodies everything a baby boomer has ever whinged about millennials in a newspaper or on talkback radio ... You could suggest that Jochems is doing some broad metaphorical work here, that Cynthia’s apathy is all of our apathy, that the consequences Cynthia must face are all of our consequences. But really, isn’t it possible that Jochems is just having a little fun?
Emma Marie Jones, The Lifted Brow
Jochems’ debut is witty and unique ... A promising new voice but an uneven page-turner.
Kirkus Reviews
[E]ngrossing … Dark and twisty despite its sun-soaked backdrop, this is perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty.
Courtney Eathorne, Booklist
Wow, what an amazing talent this young woman is … This novel is well and truly a modern urban cautionary fable, about that privileged and over indulged generation us oldies like to call entitled, how their perception of self is so out of whack, and the consequences when it all goes wrong … This is an amazing new voice in NZ writing, we should treasure and nurture her, she will go onto great things.
Felicity Murray, Booksellers NZ
It's a heck of a read — intense and unsettling — and Jochems is quite the writing talent … There are a lot of themes weaving through what can seem like a rather simple storyline, adding layers and provoking plenty of thoughts. It's the kind of book that stays with you long after you close the final page. Jochems crafts an atmospheric, claustrophobic, sense of place and the unusual relationship between the two women and the other people they encounter on their adventure … This is not your typical read, but it's an intense, extraordinarily clever psychological thriller that has hints of the likes of Rebecca or The Bird Tribunal while being something quite original and all of its own. Give it a go and see what you think.
Craig Sisterson, Crime Watch
The novel is a murderous foray into the contemporary world — with a perfect flatness of delivery that is sometimes guiltily laugh-out-loud. It's a psychological story of obsession and revenge filtered through internet culture. Thelma and Louise meet Beavis and Butthead in the Bay of Islands … The claustrophobia of a shared cabin and bed, sexual fixation, a seasick dog, money problems, and the downsides of saltwater and sun, builds the tension towards an inevitable climax.
David Herkt, Stuff
The deeper you delve, the more interesting it gets. If you love surreal books with an alternative narrative then you’ll love this.
Roachie’s Reviews
Eleanor Catton, Author of Man Booker Prize-winning The Luminaries
Patricia Highsmith meets reality TV in this compelling debut. Jochems nudges up the tension until we can’t bear to look — and can’t bear to look away: thrilling, dangerous, and deliciously funny.
Catherine Chidgey, prize-winning author of The Wish Child and The Beat of the Pendulum
This funny, sexy, unnerving novel challenges received ideas and delivers jolts of pleasure and disquiet throughout. Jochems, like her extraordinary creation Cynthia, is a force to be reckoned with.
Emily Perkins, author of The Forrests and Novel About My Wife
Taut, savvy, biting, and at points piercingly beautiful — Jochems’s sentences shift from deadpan humour to lyrical simplicity to emotional menace with deft, edgy style.
Tracey Slaughter, author of Deleted Scenes for Lovers
This year’s best local debut novel.
Metro
Baby is a funny, taut, relentless fever-dream of a novel. Buy it and read it now, and you can brag about it one day the way people who bought and read Emily Perkins’ Not Her Real Name in 1996 do today.
Louise Kasza, The Spinoff
An amazing, fresh voice in New Zealand fiction.
Jenna Todd, RNZ
In Cynthia, she has crafted a memorable monster. Creepy and subversive, Baby is a classy debut.
Linda Herrick, NZ Listener
Sparse and tantalising in its unfolding, it never quite allows you to get your sea legs.
Ruth Spencer, NZ Herald
Baby tells a bizarre story of obsession and desire and takes a satirical look at the millennial condition … However the cleverness of Jochems’ writing ensures Baby is not only a strange and claustrophobic book but also a pretty good one.
Catie McLeod, The Saturday Paper
From page one, Baby is a dryly funny study of a young woman driven to shocking acts by what seems like boredom and lust alone, devoid of any semblance of a conscience … Come to Baby for a full-blown psychopath who makes you laugh out loud despite your horror.
Rebecca Varcoe, The Saturday Age
Compelling reading.
The Burgeoning Bookshelf
An original and accomplished first work.
Helen Elliott, Weekend Australian
Cynthia doesn’t disappoint. As we meet her, she embodies everything a baby boomer has ever whinged about millennials in a newspaper or on talkback radio ... You could suggest that Jochems is doing some broad metaphorical work here, that Cynthia’s apathy is all of our apathy, that the consequences Cynthia must face are all of our consequences. But really, isn’t it possible that Jochems is just having a little fun?
Emma Marie Jones, The Lifted Brow
Jochems’ debut is witty and unique ... A promising new voice but an uneven page-turner.
Kirkus Reviews
[E]ngrossing … Dark and twisty despite its sun-soaked backdrop, this is perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty.
Courtney Eathorne, Booklist
Wow, what an amazing talent this young woman is … This novel is well and truly a modern urban cautionary fable, about that privileged and over indulged generation us oldies like to call entitled, how their perception of self is so out of whack, and the consequences when it all goes wrong … This is an amazing new voice in NZ writing, we should treasure and nurture her, she will go onto great things.
Felicity Murray, Booksellers NZ
It's a heck of a read — intense and unsettling — and Jochems is quite the writing talent … There are a lot of themes weaving through what can seem like a rather simple storyline, adding layers and provoking plenty of thoughts. It's the kind of book that stays with you long after you close the final page. Jochems crafts an atmospheric, claustrophobic, sense of place and the unusual relationship between the two women and the other people they encounter on their adventure … This is not your typical read, but it's an intense, extraordinarily clever psychological thriller that has hints of the likes of Rebecca or The Bird Tribunal while being something quite original and all of its own. Give it a go and see what you think.
Craig Sisterson, Crime Watch
The novel is a murderous foray into the contemporary world — with a perfect flatness of delivery that is sometimes guiltily laugh-out-loud. It's a psychological story of obsession and revenge filtered through internet culture. Thelma and Louise meet Beavis and Butthead in the Bay of Islands … The claustrophobia of a shared cabin and bed, sexual fixation, a seasick dog, money problems, and the downsides of saltwater and sun, builds the tension towards an inevitable climax.
David Herkt, Stuff
The deeper you delve, the more interesting it gets. If you love surreal books with an alternative narrative then you’ll love this.
Roachie’s Reviews
April 6, 2020
Appealing plot (how I’d love to live on a boat), appealing cover (how I’d love a sandwich), appealing list of accolades this novel has gathered in its native New Zealand. Sure, absolutely I’ll check it out. And you know, it’s an interesting read, it’s exactly the sort of a book that wins awards, it has that award quality where you can intellectually appreciate it without necessarily emotionally engaging with it. At least for me it wasn’t especially engaging. The main protagonist is an aimless 21 year old named Cynthia, who becomes obsessed with her fitness coach, a somewhat older Anahera. Together they take off for greener (or in this case bluer) pastures on a boat named Baby. But without money or a plan things aren’t as ideal as Cynthia might have dreamed about and then a tragedy and an introduction of a new character into their lives creates an awkward and uncomfortable love triangle, one based not so much on love as it is on manipulation, obsession and other lower species of emotions. So that’s the entire novel, really, told from the increasingly (though fairly mellowly so) unhinged Cynthia’s side of the triangle. There’s a dire paucity of balance in the triangle, in their relationship, everyone’s invested to dramatically different degrees, which can, of course, only lead to tragedy. A shame, really, but what can one expect, none of the characters display any levels of maturity or at times even basic decency. Cynthia especially isn’t just young, she’s a young 21, despite being a college graduate, she acts like a teen at best. Not sure if her immaturity is by design or a reflection of how young the author is, but it is a detractor in a way, it’s difficult to really engage with a protagonist who is so childlike and just so unprepared for life or even that interesting. Cynthia watches way too much reality tv, which may actually warp her idea of reality or maybe she’s just naturally aimless, Either way, not the most likeable protagonist, though for a novel about not likeable people, it’s actually oddly compelling of a read. It definitely has a certain dreamlike, hypnotic quality to the narrative. Kind of like being on a boat, with the waves lulling you to sleep until the world is hazy and strange things appear less so. So anyway, this won’t be for everyone, I enjoyed it on some level, enough to warrant a read and it is short enough for that. So there you have it…this novel is someone’s baby, about a boat named Baby with a protagonist who is very much a baby. Definitely not as enjoyable as I imagine boat life to be. Also, not as enjoyable as a sandwich. But pretty decent in its own way. Thanks Netgalley.
July 4, 2018
This is a very good debut novel. Jochems writes cleverly for someone so young (she is 23) and shows her understanding of young people, especially those who move outside the mainstream. Her writing is spiky, unconventional and engaging.
The main character, Cynthia, is an aimless dropout obsessed by social media and reality TV - and by her fitness coach Anahera, with whom she runs away to the Bay of Islands and buys the boat ‘Baby’. The pair doesn’t attempt to sail the boat - instead they live a hand to mouth existence on it as their home, exploring the area with their dinghy. When a teenager joins them and the unexpected happens, it throws the pair’s relationship off key. When Gordon joins them tenor of the story becomes even more sinister, even bizarre. In a way Cynthia and Anahera are a Thelma and Louise couple - indeed Gordon says at one point ‘Where is Louise, Thelma?’
The main character, Cynthia, is an aimless dropout obsessed by social media and reality TV - and by her fitness coach Anahera, with whom she runs away to the Bay of Islands and buys the boat ‘Baby’. The pair doesn’t attempt to sail the boat - instead they live a hand to mouth existence on it as their home, exploring the area with their dinghy. When a teenager joins them and the unexpected happens, it throws the pair’s relationship off key. When Gordon joins them tenor of the story becomes even more sinister, even bizarre. In a way Cynthia and Anahera are a Thelma and Louise couple - indeed Gordon says at one point ‘Where is Louise, Thelma?’
December 28, 2018
what a great book! I'm going to buy a copy so I can lend it to people
March 2, 2024
This book is such a weird ride.
Pitched as a book about obsession, this is truly the anti-romance novel. Our protagonist (in the loosest definition of that word), Cynthia, starts out wrong, ends up even worse, and we are stuck with her the whole time. She truly represents the worst of all feminine stereotypes: grotesquely sexual, weaponizing victimhood, willfully ignorant, entitled, lazy, pathetic, and unfortunately for everyone, endlessly fascinating and addicting to be around.
Cynthia's rival in her doomed love triangle, Gordon, is a man. He also sucks. He is just as bad as she is, but because he is a man he is framed in a much more sympathetic light. The love interest, Anahera, stuck in the middle of these two awful people, is barely a character at all because both Gordon and Cynthia have no interest in knowing her as a real human woman. She is a prize, so dehumanized and ignored that she isn't even really "objectified" in the traditional sense. Readers spend most of the book barely knowing what she even looks like.
This book is tough to get into. The beginning is painfully slow. The story takes place on a nasty little house boat off the coast of a rural village in New Zealand, and this book makes no effort to help international readers understand that setting at all. You didn't get that reference? Too bad. Unfamiliar slang? Missing cultural context? Just deal with it. Skim through those parts and just skip to the most off putting descriptions of the human body you have ever read in your life.
The book is good. I never want to see it again in my life. I do not recommend you read it.
Pitched as a book about obsession, this is truly the anti-romance novel. Our protagonist (in the loosest definition of that word), Cynthia, starts out wrong, ends up even worse, and we are stuck with her the whole time. She truly represents the worst of all feminine stereotypes: grotesquely sexual, weaponizing victimhood, willfully ignorant, entitled, lazy, pathetic, and unfortunately for everyone, endlessly fascinating and addicting to be around.
Cynthia's rival in her doomed love triangle, Gordon, is a man. He also sucks. He is just as bad as she is, but because he is a man he is framed in a much more sympathetic light. The love interest, Anahera, stuck in the middle of these two awful people, is barely a character at all because both Gordon and Cynthia have no interest in knowing her as a real human woman. She is a prize, so dehumanized and ignored that she isn't even really "objectified" in the traditional sense. Readers spend most of the book barely knowing what she even looks like.
This book is tough to get into. The beginning is painfully slow. The story takes place on a nasty little house boat off the coast of a rural village in New Zealand, and this book makes no effort to help international readers understand that setting at all. You didn't get that reference? Too bad. Unfamiliar slang? Missing cultural context? Just deal with it. Skim through those parts and just skip to the most off putting descriptions of the human body you have ever read in your life.
The book is good. I never want to see it again in my life. I do not recommend you read it.
May 5, 2024
I love weird books but this one might have been a bit too weird
November 29, 2017
Baby's quick and sharp, it's also overt and blunt. It could be a butter-knife but it's also hot so people say it's more like a fire-iron, poking at you constantly. it's uncomfortable, anyone will tell you. I think it's more like a clothes iron, fresh out of the box, a pink handle and a pleasing aesthetic oh la la, but it burns the clothes and spits venom instead. When you're burnt by a fire-iron it hurts in one place, but reading Baby is like being ironed all over, the iron stalling in the more sensitive areas.
Reading into Cynthia made me realise that she is just a bloated version of my own self. Her personality being huge and transitory was a brilliant way for me to put into perspective my own selfishness, whether that be intentional or not. It made me question hard my opinion of the victim, and that of the villain. It made me question if I really have anything good to say at all, and it made me question what the mind of a woman is really like, it made me feel like I didn't know them at all.
But Baby doesn't make itself out to look like a foray into any of these questions. It's quick and quirky and scandalously hot.
That's little of what I love about it, I love it mainly because it does all of this but never boasts. Never begs the reader to follow, Baby exists independently, and will live for a long time, possibly forever, no matter if it's read or not.
But I also feel like Annaleese is capable of more meaningful works. Baby is brilliant, to me it sits high up in the thriller genre and did what it set out do to and more. But the awkward pain of Cynthia is so alarmingly unreal that it's hard to see anything else in the book. It's not an easy read and the take-home of it is not easy to find and left me wondering if there was even one at all (not that it intended to be easy in the first place). Despite this, the book is fully real, Cynthia is a reality in some people out there, man and woman. That is why it's so hard to read, and there is no way it was unintentionally grueling. This book could make a serial-killer blush. It's hard to say how I feel about it, but one thing's for certain, no one will be putting Baby in a corner.
James
Reading into Cynthia made me realise that she is just a bloated version of my own self. Her personality being huge and transitory was a brilliant way for me to put into perspective my own selfishness, whether that be intentional or not. It made me question hard my opinion of the victim, and that of the villain. It made me question if I really have anything good to say at all, and it made me question what the mind of a woman is really like, it made me feel like I didn't know them at all.
But Baby doesn't make itself out to look like a foray into any of these questions. It's quick and quirky and scandalously hot.
That's little of what I love about it, I love it mainly because it does all of this but never boasts. Never begs the reader to follow, Baby exists independently, and will live for a long time, possibly forever, no matter if it's read or not.
But I also feel like Annaleese is capable of more meaningful works. Baby is brilliant, to me it sits high up in the thriller genre and did what it set out do to and more. But the awkward pain of Cynthia is so alarmingly unreal that it's hard to see anything else in the book. It's not an easy read and the take-home of it is not easy to find and left me wondering if there was even one at all (not that it intended to be easy in the first place). Despite this, the book is fully real, Cynthia is a reality in some people out there, man and woman. That is why it's so hard to read, and there is no way it was unintentionally grueling. This book could make a serial-killer blush. It's hard to say how I feel about it, but one thing's for certain, no one will be putting Baby in a corner.
James
May 13, 2019
2.5 / 5 stars
The thing that excited me most about this book was the mention of places I have seen and been to in New Zealand, Paihia, Whangarei, Palmerston North, the supermarket Countdown, as well as Hokey Pokey ice cream and Tim-tams.
I desperately wanted to buy this book back in New Zealand, entranced by the pink cover and by the fact that it was by a young Kiwi writer. I did not buy it in Aotearoa, but I ended up finally caving a year later and purchasing it anyways. I am not sure if it was my best introduction to New Zealand literature.
It's not you, it's me. Or it might be you, I cannot be sure. Maybe I am just boring and conservative, but I cannot, for the life of me, seem to get into books of this kind.
You learn nothing of the characters, everything seems arbitrary, nothing has consequences, there are countless mood swings and I really was not shocked or moved by anything. I adore unlikeable characters normally, but these were just neutral to me. I felt absolutely nothing towards Anahera or Cynthia, not towards Gordon or the boy whose name I have forgotten. The only one I felt terrible for was Snot-Head, Cynthia's abandoned dog - and even that name grossed me out. I do not enjoy when disgusting details are given center stage in books, which seems to be the case with many now celebrated novels, where you cannot go a page without reading about greasy hair, vomit, dandruff or whatever else. Maybe it's supposed to be brave and unapologetic because women (it's mostly in cases of stories about women I noticed) don't have to be pretty and clean and lovely all the time. And I agree. I don't want them perfectly groomed and styled to the nines, but imperfections still don't have to be gross. They don't have to be filthy girls, as Cynthia herself puts it.
If you enjoy modern books, liked Daisy Johnson, My Year of Rest and Relaxation or The Girls, then this book might be for you. It sadly was not for me.
The thing that excited me most about this book was the mention of places I have seen and been to in New Zealand, Paihia, Whangarei, Palmerston North, the supermarket Countdown, as well as Hokey Pokey ice cream and Tim-tams.
I desperately wanted to buy this book back in New Zealand, entranced by the pink cover and by the fact that it was by a young Kiwi writer. I did not buy it in Aotearoa, but I ended up finally caving a year later and purchasing it anyways. I am not sure if it was my best introduction to New Zealand literature.
It's not you, it's me. Or it might be you, I cannot be sure. Maybe I am just boring and conservative, but I cannot, for the life of me, seem to get into books of this kind.
You learn nothing of the characters, everything seems arbitrary, nothing has consequences, there are countless mood swings and I really was not shocked or moved by anything. I adore unlikeable characters normally, but these were just neutral to me. I felt absolutely nothing towards Anahera or Cynthia, not towards Gordon or the boy whose name I have forgotten. The only one I felt terrible for was Snot-Head, Cynthia's abandoned dog - and even that name grossed me out. I do not enjoy when disgusting details are given center stage in books, which seems to be the case with many now celebrated novels, where you cannot go a page without reading about greasy hair, vomit, dandruff or whatever else. Maybe it's supposed to be brave and unapologetic because women (it's mostly in cases of stories about women I noticed) don't have to be pretty and clean and lovely all the time. And I agree. I don't want them perfectly groomed and styled to the nines, but imperfections still don't have to be gross. They don't have to be filthy girls, as Cynthia herself puts it.
If you enjoy modern books, liked Daisy Johnson, My Year of Rest and Relaxation or The Girls, then this book might be for you. It sadly was not for me.
May 24, 2019
The 21 years old protagonist Cynthia is a motherless daughter of a wealthy and aloof man. She is a drifter who dropped out of university. She finds it difficult to get a job. She even failed McDonald’s employment test, which indicated that she can’t relate to other people. But Cynthia isn’t that interested in getting a job anyway. She prefers the online world and the world of reality TV shows to the tangible world. Her main passions are her French bulldog Snot-head and her fitness instructor Anahera. What she really wants is to have a romantic relationship with Anahera and to run away with her to some isolated setting where they will live in a semi-animalistic state. Early in the book Cynthia tells Anahera a lie, not her first or last one, that she has a large sum of money and offers her to run away with her. Anahera accepts her offer and then their misadventures begin...
The prose is sharp and fresh; quirky; often darkly ironic, and there is beautiful evocation of places. The might and vastness and wilderness of nature in contrast to the creaky, old, uncomfortably small boat. The writer is definitely gifted. However, her talent remains underused in this book, which overall didn't do it for me.
Mainly it's because the characters are simply not interesting. What they say, what they do, their (sometimes obscure) desires and needs are all trivial. They lack the energy that the prose possesses. I couldn’t care about them or be compelled by them. The characterisation is underdone. Even Cynthia, whose point of view is the only one we access in the book, remains vague. There is barely any back story, and the dialogue doesn’t compensate for that. Gordon is completely vague, only characterized by his desire for Anahera. Even worse, none of the three main characters develops throughout the story. What we get at the start is, psychologically, more or less what we end up with too. There are no surprises.
The prose is sharp and fresh; quirky; often darkly ironic, and there is beautiful evocation of places. The might and vastness and wilderness of nature in contrast to the creaky, old, uncomfortably small boat. The writer is definitely gifted. However, her talent remains underused in this book, which overall didn't do it for me.
Mainly it's because the characters are simply not interesting. What they say, what they do, their (sometimes obscure) desires and needs are all trivial. They lack the energy that the prose possesses. I couldn’t care about them or be compelled by them. The characterisation is underdone. Even Cynthia, whose point of view is the only one we access in the book, remains vague. There is barely any back story, and the dialogue doesn’t compensate for that. Gordon is completely vague, only characterized by his desire for Anahera. Even worse, none of the three main characters develops throughout the story. What we get at the start is, psychologically, more or less what we end up with too. There are no surprises.
February 13, 2021
Things this book was advertised/marketed as:
-LGBTQIA+
-NZ-set
-darkly funny
-smart
Things this book wasn't:
Any of the above, really. The former two are technically true but incidental. The queer rep doesn't really rate unless you're happy to embrace some truly 50s-era literary requirements whereby any lesbian characters must be portrayed as deeply messed-up, shallow, selfish, man-hating and ideally actual psychopaths. (I see litfic still thinks this is somehow brave and edgy and award-worthy? Cool cool cool - once my eyes are done rolling right out of my head, I'm going back to genre fiction, where authors actually give a fuck about nuanced characterisation and decent plots.) The setting is nondescript and could be literally anywhere with a coast.
The latter two only apply if your definition of a smart, darkly funny book is 200 pages of deeply unsympathetic characters doing shitty things and managing to be boring about every single one of them, including murder.
I was still going for maybe 2 stars because despite all that, the book was weirdly moreish in the same way accident compilations on YouTube and really gross candy can be, but then it ended abruptly with zero resolution after some exceedingly ridiculous developments, and ugh. Hard pass.
-LGBTQIA+
-NZ-set
-darkly funny
-smart
Things this book wasn't:
Any of the above, really. The former two are technically true but incidental. The queer rep doesn't really rate unless you're happy to embrace some truly 50s-era literary requirements whereby any lesbian characters must be portrayed as deeply messed-up, shallow, selfish, man-hating and ideally actual psychopaths. (I see litfic still thinks this is somehow brave and edgy and award-worthy? Cool cool cool - once my eyes are done rolling right out of my head, I'm going back to genre fiction, where authors actually give a fuck about nuanced characterisation and decent plots.) The setting is nondescript and could be literally anywhere with a coast.
The latter two only apply if your definition of a smart, darkly funny book is 200 pages of deeply unsympathetic characters doing shitty things and managing to be boring about every single one of them, including murder.
I was still going for maybe 2 stars because despite all that, the book was weirdly moreish in the same way accident compilations on YouTube and really gross candy can be, but then it ended abruptly with zero resolution after some exceedingly ridiculous developments, and ugh. Hard pass.
July 15, 2019
The boat, Baby, is "bluish-white, with dirty bits at the water line, and the sea clinging at its little hips like low-waisted pants." It's home for the two girls for the unforeseeable future. However, it becomes crowded when others join them - Gordon in particular. "He's not where he belongs, and because of him there's no place for Cynthia either." They vie for Anahera's affection. Jochems ties this to the reality TV shows Cynthia is constantly watching on her phone. "The game's started, and Cynthia will play it" for real. "Cynthia's at war-with a man-for a woman." Towards the end of the storyline, the pace changes. Gordon accuses Cynthia of being "drowned in your social media device." Many weapons became available: knives which eventually became sharp, anchors, rope, nails, and the weights. It is pretty clear the weights were important given their earlier references, so the ending was not a shock. It's not as sophisticated a story as Heavenly Creatures and unexplained concepts leave me frustrated such as why Gordon uses a fake accent.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2019
I want to give this more than 2 stars, but I really don’t know why. Maybe because I feel like it has artistic merit of some kind, even though I found the prose to be slightly irritating and a little bit try-hardy, like people who go to music festivals and dress all odd and need to prove for some reason that they’re “alternative” even though they aren’t really.
This book was bold and weird and wasn’t afraid to go to dark strange places, but did I really care about what was happening? No, not really.
It was genuinely unpredictable all the way through, but was I shocked or interested when the revelations came? Also no.
I feel like it might deserve more than two stars, maybe, but it ultimately comes down to this:
Would I ever read this again? No.
Would I recommend it to my friends? No.
Would I recommend it to my enemies? No, because then my enemies would think I’m into lame things.
It has to a be a two. Sorry book. Maybe I’m just not quirky enough, or something. Maybe the empty characters were just TOO empty.
This book was bold and weird and wasn’t afraid to go to dark strange places, but did I really care about what was happening? No, not really.
It was genuinely unpredictable all the way through, but was I shocked or interested when the revelations came? Also no.
I feel like it might deserve more than two stars, maybe, but it ultimately comes down to this:
Would I ever read this again? No.
Would I recommend it to my friends? No.
Would I recommend it to my enemies? No, because then my enemies would think I’m into lame things.
It has to a be a two. Sorry book. Maybe I’m just not quirky enough, or something. Maybe the empty characters were just TOO empty.
March 16, 2018
Fit, tan, tasty Anahera (gym instructor); young, not-so-fit, pasty Cynthia; Gordon (the German tourist, but really from Palmerston N); a 15-year-old graffiti-drawing kid who falls out of a tree and dies; Snot-face, Cynthia's slobbering bulldog, which she abandons; Baby, the cramped boat she and Anahera buy with money stolen from Cynthia's father, Ron… Two bad girls run away together and want to steal the "tourist's" money. The stringy blonde Cynthia is more into the taut and older Anahera than Anahera is into her. Narrated through the eyes of the obsessed, nutty and immature Cynthia, a truly interesting character with unsavoury eating and other habits. Picaresque, edgy, experimental, disturbing lively… Set in Paihia (Jochem is a local writer). Fresh, squalid, somewhat original. Almost unselfconscious. New Zealandy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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