This is my third time reading this book (almost decade since my last reading), and certainly the most I've ever appreciated it. This book poses some fascinating questions about morality and conscience and personal satisfaction, but the delivery is really where it was losing me. The first third was stellar as every concept was fresh and interesting to consider, the middle really dragged as everyone became unlikeable and prattled on and on, and the last third picked up the pace again and recaptured my attention to a really strong finish. Plenty of disagreeable misogynistic and racist and classist content, and while it's par for the course for a classic and arguably intentional, I still didn't enjoy that. My eyes definitely were glazing over for large sections at a time because man can these dudes yap.

I really appreciated that the edition I read including a biography of Oscar Wilde that helped to contextualize this work too, as well as discussion specifically around Wilde's claim that "Each man sees his own sin in Dorian Gray. What Dorian Gray's sins are no one knows. He who finds them has brought them." I think that those meta considerations of the book were really interesting, but I'm not sure that I can give credit to the book itself for them, though they were some of my favorite aspects of this reading experience.

She's very particular. She has a color for each day of the week. Her outfit, hair, nails, and even perfume are perfectly curated to fit the latest trend. Her whole personality is shaped so that she will always be the perfect wife for her husband. She doesn't go anywhere without thinking about her husband.

And he's, well...he's her husband.

This book was absolutely incredible! It was so fun being inside the FMC's head and I genuinely laughed out loud multiple times. The audiobook was also perfectly narrated to encapsulate her inner monologue.

If you want to read a book that's fully inside someone's head, inspecting every one of her thoughts and actions, this is it. If you want an FMC with anxiety and OCD rep, this is her. If you want to examine an uncomfortably troubling marriage, this is the couple. If you want an ending that might just knock your socks off, this is the book! I loved this so much.