Bite-sized book reviews
Bite-sized book reviews
Library Challenge
Read For Fun
This was recommended to me by a therapist friend, who had it recommended to her by a client, which feels both funny and very on theme. The book follows Sylvie, who is in therapy and becomes obsessed with her therapist. She’s aware of the obsession and pretty upfront about it, so the story isn’t about denial as much as fixation.
The entire book lives inside Sylvie’s point of view, and it really does feel like being inside the mind of someone who has clearly experienced trauma, even though the book isn’t actually about the trauma itself. Instead, it focuses on this slow burn of attachment and what happens when that attachment is abruptly cut off after the therapist quits.
I liked it, didn’t love it, but also didn’t hate it. There’s no big climax or dramatic payoff, which in some ways feels very true to real life. That same quality also made it feel less captivating at times, though oddly compelling in others.
It’s subtle and uncomfortable, and will probably appeal most to readers interested in attachment and obsession. I appreciated that the therapist maintained clear boundaries, which isn’t always the case in fiction, even though the therapy itself felt a bit overly pacifying to me.
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