Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

It's bare and minimal. I don't think a whole publication process should have been wasted on a minimal book with no story. I understand the concept, but it wasn't original. It was from an old diary from someone else that ended up being recrafted into a book. I really wanted to like it.

This isn't a novel, it isn't a novella, it isn't a lot of things. This is short and reads more like poetry than anything else. Thanks to net galley for the ARC. It's an interesting conceit to take someone else's writing and "collage it" to make it "your own" but it comes out more as an art project than literature.

This isn’t really a book, is it? Not in a way that someone would spend money on it, surely. Technically, yes, it’s formatted and published as a book, but realistically speaking it is 128 pages I was easily able to read in just under 15 minutes. This is beyond spare, beyond minimalistic, beyond bare bones even. It might work as a poetry volume, possibly, although it’s sparse even by those standards. Mood wise, again, might work for poetry. Otherwise, possibly, an experiment. But it doesn’t offer much to go on. This is essentially an old diary of an old woman that covers 1968 to 1972 in the least amount of words and details possible, mostly chronicling old age and the general winding down of life. Not only is there not really enough for a semblance of a coherent narrative, there is barely enough to evoke any sort of engagement. Maybe this is why diaries are meant to be private things intended for their owners only. Definitely didn’t work for me. Maybe it’s something for fans of poetry and flash fiction. But seriously…no book this size should be read in 15 minutes. Maybe I’m too much of a traditionalist. The book has some rave reviews, possibly from diarists or readers of the diaries of others. Concept fiction, like concept cuisine, essentially insubstantial. And in this case mainly sad. But really, it’s a privacy violation at best. Pass. Thanks Netgalley.

Unique original engrossing a book in short fragments a book based on diaries the author bought and became engrossed in.Each page a few lines but the people the lives come alive this is literary art at its best.Highly recommend this creative literary novel. #netgalley#fsg