Corey Ann Haydu

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review here and on my blog Samwise Reviews. I really loved how original this story was, and I wish it had been longer. I felt the characters were a bit flat and I would have liked to get to know each of them on a deeper level to really understand how they felt and what they went through. The story started out a bit slow with a lot of things being hinted at but never explained, and while it picked up the pace better part way through it never felt like a wild ride to me. I was expecting intense drama and a race to the finish line and while things did come to a head, it meandered its way there. The conclusion did tie up most of the ends, but it just didn't feel completely satisfying. Overall it was good and clever, I just expected... more.… (mais)

Representation: N/A
Trigger warnings: Sexist slurs, death of a person in the past, sexual harassment and assault, online harassment
Score: Seven points out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.

Oh, look, the first poetry novel I read in 2024. I wanted to read this, but I missed an opportunity to get it the first time around, but not the second time. Lawless Spaces is timely since it covers a prominent issue, but several aspects worked against its favour. However, it does score some points for originality and engagement. A review said there were trigger warnings before the story began. Where were they? I couldn't find them.

Lawless Spaces starts with the first two characters I see, Tiffany and Mimi Dovewick, living a typical life in the opening pages, until Tiffany leaves Mimi to experience late adolescence alone. Mimi starts journaling about the events happening in her life, like cyberbullying, while simultaneously looking back at the journals her ancestors wrote. All while the news ubiquitously reports on an assault case rattling Tiffany. Did I mention Lawless Spaces is non-linear?

The narrative's biggest flaws lie in its characters and writing style. Other than stretching words, the poetry is more like what happens when someone randomly presses the Enter key. I appreciate the author for writing so engagingly but did Lawless Spaces have to clock in at over 500 pages, hampering its pacing? The story jumps around when Mimi reads the diaries of those who came before her, and it would've been intriguing, but the similarly monotonous voices of characters like Betty and Virginia let me down. The men mistreat the women in Lawless Spaces mostly due to their body type, but what if they had dissimilar ones yet still suffered the same fate? That would've made a more enjoyable read. I would've loved Lawless Spaces more if there were more than only white people in there, making room for intersectionality between race, gender and class. However, the conclusion was a high note.… (mais)