Sad Janet by Lucie Britsch // Book Review

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I have a fetish for difficult women who don’t conform. I’m not sure when this manifested but I’m sure it has to do with my stint in YA with perfect protagonists or “cool girls”. Janet is sad and it’s not done as an affectation. She simply does not have the motivation for anything in life. The way things just happen to her is just a fact like being a stone in a running current. You let the water smooth you down and accept it.

It’s not all bad or all good and that’s the point Janet tries to make to her friends and family. Especially her mom who sees her lack of forced positivity as a personal affront. She met her boyfriend when they were both sad and now that he has a more important job and taking drugs, he thinks she should follow suit. However, Janet is adamant about not taking drugs. Because she’s not always sad.

Her job at the dog kennel is fulfilling enough. Taking care of unwanted dogs is harder work than most people would think but it serves a purpose. Others might not understand why she chooses to seclude herself to the middle of a forest to work there and facing the cases of owners abusing their dogs, but it’s not all bad. And that’s the thing about Janet. She can find the small good and focus on that alongside accepting the mounting pile of terrible things. Some days she doesn’t want to get up and do anything other than masturbate but that bit of indulgence is both juvenile and justified. Without responsibilities, she’s free to do what she wants because she made that decision.

The forced positivity that our society pushes places the problem on the individual. Janet isn’t happy because she “doesn’t want to be” but rather I see her calmer and collected when she’s allowed to break from social convention. Maybe the acute stress of always having to perform and inevitably failing is the point. A widespread sort of gas lighting to lying to you that they have the solution but you are too stubborn to take it.

So Janet, on a whim as anything she does, decides to take a holiday pill with the promise that by Christmas she will be in the holiday spirit. This delights her mother to no end and they do the usual things a mother and daughter are supposed to do. Shopping, decorating, and cooking meals. It seems as if Janet hasn’t really changed her attitude about any of this but rather she no longer struggles to say no. It’s as if yes is the easier answer and so by default she goes towards the path of no resistance. Expect she breaks down and realizes that maybe the problem is both having to try so hard and not trying at all.

I recommend this book to fans of My Year of Rest and Relaxation. You may or may not like the protagonist.

Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey // Book Review

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No one ever said having children was easy. For jen, her daughter Lana continues to drift away. Wanting to form her own identity separate from the person mother knows, Lana disappears. Four days of worry has Lana safe back in Jen’s arms. However, Lana won’t tell her mother or the police what happened.

This leads us to jen trying to pry information out. Yet the more she tries, the more Lana becomes reserved. Are your children allowed keep secrets from you? Not satisfied, jen creates her first Instagram I account where she finds Lana is a completely different person online. The friend she thought she knew were not actually Lana’s friends. The people she’s talking to could be dangerous. We jump around theories from cult involvement to sex parties.

I would say the hardest theme about this book is sometimes you can’t truly know a person. Sometimes you have to trust that they can make decisions for themselves. Knowing that you’re there, it has to be enough when someone makes a mistake. Reading the reviews this book, don’t see a lot of empathy. I know it’s frustrating when you love someone and they act in ways that make you think it’s not enough. It’s not as if Jen or Lana is at fault. Depression is not a straightforward journey. There could be lapses in judgment but being able to pull yourself back together as a strength all on its own.

I recommend this book for maybe someone going through something similar. Maybe you’re the one who can’t see the light or you’re a bystander trying to offer support. I think this book deserves more credit because it’s not Nice and maybe we shouldn’t judge characters on how nice they are.