Ripe

Literary novel following a young woman, Cassie, a year into her job in a high tech company , as she struggles with the pressures of corporate culture, her romantic relationship, the slow but inevitable environmental catastrophes. 
I really liked this book from the gorgeously sharp writing to the subjects addressed in it. The plot explored various themes : existential dread, mental illness, drug abuse, the struggle to fit into our contemporary (consumeristic, capitalist and appearance obsessed) society, the toxicity of working into a company where profit and productivity is the only important thing, romantic/platonic/parental love or the lack therefor, the beauty and cruelty of nature, motherhood etc.  Some elements resonated with my personal and professional experience and I did like the metaphor of the black hole like a metaphysical ball and chain. The little definitions of the overall theme addressed in each chapter was a nice little touch. Some passages were written so beautifully like some sort of nightmarish fever dream.  Cassie's « passivity » in regards to her colleagues and acquaintances felt sometimes too much and I wanted her to snap to be honest. Some plot and character elements were only touched on and I wished the author delved into it more.
This was overall a very bleak book but there were some real emotional moments in it, especially the end.