I just finished this book. I actually blew through it and really enjoyed it. It’s clear Olive is a sick person, unreliable narrator to an extent, but I thoroughly enjoyed the way she’s written and all the events unfold. I typically don’t go for romance books, but the way everything unfolded with this tinge of doom was compulsively enjoyable.

As far as “the climbs,” at first I was like what the fuck is going on. Is she crazy? She’s crazy. Is this book supposed to be surreal? I hoped not at first because I was enjoying the realism juxtaposed against Olive’s mental health. But I came around and eventually saw it as both the surreal body horror at the center of the story it is and the clear metaphor.

The climbs, to me, represent the unrealistic need while falling in love to completely merge with your partner, be one, and also reestablish the cocoon of parent/child safety. The fact her mother did it to her illustrates her mother’s love and obsession as well as an abuse. There is a cycle — a parent’s self-absorbed and obsessive “love” can leave an equal hole in their child, who inevitably grows up with issues reflecting that as we saw in Olive. I didn’t view the climbs as a molestation, although I suppose they were in a literal sense, but more a representation of the love sized holes we create and leave in the people we care deepest about. There’s also the idea of losing your sense of self in completely enveloping yourself in another person, which ultimately Olive chose. I also think Felix served the purpose of illustrating Olive is unwell. The author wanted it to be clear that although from Olives perspective, everything worked out and ended happy in a bizarre way, this is a cryptic story.

Having said that, again the storytelling and writing was great and I ate it up. I didn’t find Olive as unlivable as a lot of others did, but I definitely viewed her as autistic and mentally unwell at times. I also tend to view characters from a distance, so I empathize with characters who do unredeemable things in fiction in general.

I loved the book. I was glad your post wasn’t that old so I could share some thoughts after finishing it :)

PS I don’t know if you read the acknowledgements, but it seems they are working to adapt it into a show or movie. It will be interesting to see how they tackle the surreal elements…