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Finished Part I. I haven't stopped annotating. Every chapter leaves me with another sentence to underline or another thought to sit with. It's one of those rare books that rewards close reading without ever feeling like it's trying too hard. I'm already in love with this novel.

I wasn't expecting to fall for this book so quickly. The prose is gorgeous without trying too hard, and the premise already feels rich with history, longing, and heartbreak. I'm so glad I finally picked up a copy. If this gets me out of my reading slump, it'll have earned a permanent place on my shelf.

Only a few pages in and I already know this is going to hurt me. There's a quiet melancholy hanging over every page, like grief has settled into the walls of the farmhouse. Bakker trusts silence more than exposition, and I have a feeling this book will break my heart very, very gently.

a pride month reread

Just a few pages into this and I already feel quietly drawn in. There’s a softness to the writing, but also a sharp attentiveness to how people see and misread each other, especially in the way Red seems to observe Mara through a mix of admiration, distance, and quiet tension. It already feels like a novel interested in perception, longing, and the emotional weight of what goes unspoken.

Feeling quietly undone by how these poems hold the exhausted resilience of women, especially the kind shaped by performance, motherhood, class anxiety, and the pressure to remain “composed” through all of it.

67 lol sorry THIS BOOK IS SO SADD

Easy to read, but quite wordy... The premise carries the kind of weight that makes you feel like you're walking on eggshells.

Great premise, but I think the presentation is quite boring... I'm already 87% done and I'm still waiting for something about what its blurb said to happen.

54% in and I’m still unsettled. The premise hits too close to reality, which makes it all the more disturbing. Melquíades feels terrifyingly plausible. There’s a kind of unease here that lingers while reading. A few repetitions and word choices pull me out at times, but the tension holds.

In the midst of my growing fascination with Gothic literature, I picked this up and was surprised by how quickly it drew me in. The prose leans into the rhythms of the Deep South, rich and grounded, yet still easy to follow, helped by the short chapters. I’m usually not a fan of multiple POVs, but this one works; each voice feels distinct, and together they carry the same weight in different ways.

Started reading this last night and dreamt of a garden I didn't know I wanted: flowers opening without hesitation, leaves given over to birds and small, soft-bodied hoppers that arrive each morning to take what they need. Limón's poems feel like an offering, a quiet consent to be touched by the world, even when it takes more than it gives back.

Here to log my progress and caught a glimpse of the 1-star section. There’s a certain irony in seeing readers judge this book with the same rigid, imaginative failure that Briony uses to judge the world around her. Life imitating art, I suppose... Back to the fountain we go.

This is such a struggle to get through!

rereading for women's month <3

This reminds me of Eleanor & Park.

Despite its surreal and visceral premise, this novel is an arresting exploration of the human condition. Moshfegh creates characters with such psychological complexity that they remain hauntingly grounded within their grotesque world. A masterclass in the uncanny.