Binary Star Paperback – Deckle Edge, January 13, 2015

The book really hit me in a soft spot. Mostly due to how the character's battle with their mental health and addiction issues. To be more specific the narrator has a severe eating disorder and her boyfriend is an alcoholic who drinks too much with his psych medications. The story shifts from a road trip they're taking cross country to their day to day lives, struggling to manage a long distance relationship. It's not a happy story by any means but it is very real. Gerard does an amazing job presenting it with this melodic staccato prose that I feel like could have been a flop in lesser hands. I felt the book is a perfect length, It was long enough for me to develop a relationship with the characters but not so long that I became annoyed with them. That was the most powerful aspect of the story because a lot of us know people like the characters in this book and they can be so effing frustrating at times. No matter how much you love them, they drive you crazy, and there is nothing you can do but watch them self destruct. I will also say that the ending didn't go down like I thought it would. It was a good ending but it gave me mixed feelings.Gerard is a beautiful writer. I re read a lot of passages as I went. Very poetic prose. I will definitely read more of Sarah Gerard's work in the future, especially if she continues to tackle tough subject matter the way she has in Binary Star.

This is not for everyone. Heavy, heavy, heavy, and very light on plot. This has gotten some incredible reviews but it felt to me like graduate fiction writing class, 101.

Upon initially reading this novel, I found myself scatterbrained, as it was almost too overwhelming due to the pace in which it was written. However, I became deeply enthralled by Sarah Girard's atypical style, as the constant shifts from the subconsciousness of the protagonist to the actual dialogue made the plot unpredictable, yet highly interesting. This is mainly because the suppression of internal motives and actual spoken opinions of the protagonist are ambiguous, making it a toss-up as to what she will do. I also became interested in this novel, as the poignantly, relatable descriptions of the protagonists relationships through day-to-day events were captivating. If you haven't already, please read this book!

I took an entire course on Ulysses when I was an undergrad. I find The Crying of Lot 49 intiguing. I love an unreliable narrator, and I hunt through books for clues I can piece together to talk about symbolism and allegory, theme, and characterization. In other words, nobody wants me in their book club.At first I though the impenetrability of this book would subside a bit, and I'd have that "a-ha" moment where I feel like I've cracked the code. I'm a sizable chunk in, and I haven't had that moment, perhaps because there is no actual code to crack. The narrator is anorexic, her boyfriend pops pills, and owning and eating animals is gross and wrong. The rest, I think, is just vague and flowery language couched in the language of astrophysics (ooooh, deep!).Also, the lack of quotation marks to indicate dialogue makes me crazy. There's also little dialogue attribution, so sometimes I think the narrator might be talking to herself....but I can't tell.

simply unreadable.( I was an independent bookseller and buyer for 12 years and am an Ivy League English major. I have read gazillions of books.)I read good reviews and have to wonder if they came from author's publicity team and friends.

This book is an excellent window into the lives of a young couple, struggling to shed addictions. The authors literary techniques come into focus very cleverly as the books circles on, creating very enjoyable moments. My girlfriend and I took turns reading aloud, we enjoyed discussing the progression and states of the characters as we went along. I certainly recommend this book. It does have some sexuality and dramatic points, we were able to read it straight through in one sitting.

In interesting view into the head of someone with and eating disorder but it lacks the ability to give you a clear view of the story.

I didn't feel the climax of the story, or the ending, was worth the pursuit. That said, Sarah is a talented writer. I love her essays. I wanted to take a look at what she was up to in fiction. This was written in an interesting format.p.s. the main character in this story has an eating disorder. Just a heads up.