Comfort Me with Apples
Ratings126
Average rating3.4
I almost feel bad rating this book 2/5 because the writing is phenomenal and the beginning of the story had me hopeful. The setting, characters and details gave me an eerie feeling and I thought I was going to be completely mind blown but the ending was a huge disappointment. I wish the author went a different route with this one because it could have easily been one of my favorite books of the year. If you're religious, specifically Christian, you'll enjoy this novella a lot more than I did. I could not get over the cheesy, ridiculous ending shrouded in support for the patriarchy
2.5, for the plot
90% of the book was overly descriptive, i forced myself not to dnf it because of the plot but damn it was not a pleasant experience
the reveal was very predictable, still i wanted to see how it would actually play out & was def expecting something better than what we got
i really liked the portayal of denial & how we lie to ourselves when confronted to traumatic situations, the switch that happened in her mind when she finally accepted reality
very unsatisfactory ending but i get it
très bonne idée une bible fiction like this mais ça garde un goût d'inachevé
read for horror novellas reading vlog
i was spoiled for this and knew the turn but i kinda liked the direction it went in but i wouldn't consider this a horror. it wasn't scary objectively i think it was just weird. i also thought it was kinda giving black mirror in the beginning which i liked but overall it was pretty forgettable
As the year nearly ends I am trying to mark down all the books that I have completed this year so this is why my review isn't long or detailed.
Okay I'll be honest... there were some moments when I was reading this book that I sat there and thought “what am i reading?”
I could say many things but I think I'm going to end this by saying I hate men
What a fun, weird, spooky book. I did not see the ending coming and was delighted.
The whole time I was just going “what the fuck”. The ending was also so disappointing. I know it was a short book already, but it honestly felt like it could have been cut down even more. The choice of words was so strange, so the writing didn't feel like it flowed. I'm also so tired of having to see how much women are abused and how much suffering they go through to see that misogyny is wrong.
This is one of those books I will be thinking about for a very long time. It was haunting and unsettling trying to piece together what was happening, with an ending that was truly shocking and completely unexpected. I'm surprised I enjoyed a book so outside of my comfort zone as I don't usually like “weird” horror. This book gives me such A24 horror vibes, I can't explain it.
Wow. Didn't see that coming. The atmosphere of creeping dread, and of something being “a little off” made this a thrilling read.
Note: I went into this blind - and highly recommend it. It would ruin the experience if you know what the twist is.
This was such a weird little book. First off, I didn't realize it was only 103 pages when I requested it from the library so that was surprising. Secondly, based on the reviews I've seen and the synopsis, I was convinced this was some kind of horror/cult/Stepford Wives situation. It most definitely is not. I'm not even sure what genre this is... Fantasy? Speculative? Allegorical fiction?? There are hints scattered throughout and, if you're a theologian or familiar with Christianity, you'll be able to pick up on it (it took me about 1/3 of the book to get an idea of where it was going), but I imagine the audience for this will be extremely niche. I enjoyed it well enough and I don't regret reading it, but I would be hesitant to recommend it to anyone, save for a select few that I feel could appreciate the writing style.
I was really excited to listen to this one. Catherynne M. Valente is an author I hear about a lot, and I was hoping to love her work. Sadly, this was not for me. I can see the appeal of her writing style, but this was nonsense in my opinion. I found the announcement of the community rules interesting, then it went downhill from there.
I didn't care about any of the characters at all. The narrator was ok. Maybe I will try this author again in the future, but I'm not in a hurry after this one.
Thank you to Net Galley for the review copy.
It started out to be so promising because of the mysterious narration of the audiobook. But midway through I lost interest, there was no clear plot or story except for an eerie description of how the husband is being secretive (we get it, this trope has been done so so many times already!). And the ending was just ridiculous, some twisted biblical tale, seriously? I did not enjoy this story.
Well, that was disturbing. I had a good idea where the book would go subject wise, based on the title alone, but it was much more macabre than I anticipated. This is EXCELLENT and very accurate commentary on religion.
Rating: 4.25 leaves out of 5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 3.5/5
Story: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Genre: Mystery/Horror/Thriller
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: yes
I recommend reading till the end. I almost DNFed in the middle because it was just this girl being stupidly obsessed with someone who wasn't given her the time of day like she needed. I can best explain it like Rebecca had a baby with the Bible and sprinkle in Zootopia.
I think I would've liked this a bit better if i hadn't gone into it thinking about how much the name and synopsis gave off garden of eden / Adam and eve vibes.
I was so confused for most of the book until the twist hit. But even then, I was just hoping for more. Also the writing style just didn't click with me at all
actually a 2.5
pros: read it in about 1.5 hours, love a good biblical allusion, there were some genuinely unsettling parts
cons: literally everything else plot wise, ending was very rushed, i kept waiting for something... else
2.5, for the plot
90% of the book was overly descriptive, i forced myself not to dnf it because of the plot but damn it was not a pleasant experience
the reveal was very predictable, still i wanted to see how it would actually play out & was def expecting something better than what we got
i really liked the portayal of denial & how we lie to ourselves when confronted to traumatic situations, the switch that happened in her mind when she finally accepted reality
very unsatisfactory ending but i get it
très bonne idée une bible fiction like this mais ça garde un goût d'inachevé