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lady_mel's review against another edition
3.0
The prose of this book is absolutely beautiful. I really enjoyed the beginning chapters, and the end was heartbreaking, but, to me, the middle was muddled and confusing.
Sobran Jodeau was young man who was pining because his parents wouldn't let him marry the girl he'd fallen in love in love with. Sobran was drunk, and when he passed out, an angel caught him before he hit the ground. The angel, who's name is Xas, and Sobran make a pact to meet every year on the same night.
Sobran Jodeau was young man who was pining because his parents wouldn't let him marry the girl he'd fallen in love in love with. Sobran was drunk, and when he passed out, an angel caught him before he hit the ground. The angel, who's name is Xas, and Sobran make a pact to meet every year on the same night.
bookishnenya's review against another edition
Don't know why I wanted to read it and not sure of what I've read
coco_lolo's review
4.0
I'm not entirely sure how to describe my feelings for The Vintner's Luck, but suffice it to say that this isn't quite what I expected...and that's not a bad thing. I loved that Sobran wasn't necessarily likeable or even sympathetic at times, and that one of the seemingly secondary characters (Aurora) ended up being such a sophisticated, nuanced woman. I loved Xas and the relationships he has with both God and Lucifer, as well as with Sobran, Aurora, and the humans around him as decades pass. And I loved the nostalgia both in the novel and that I experienced while reading this. The beginning was unbearably slow but gradually fell into a groove and had me invested to see not what the outcome would be (which is pretty obvious), but how Knox would get us there.
cleothegreat's review against another edition
2.0
‘I had to give myself up to you for your lifetime. What is faith when you feel you’ve lost something forever? I had to have you – someone I could lose forever.’
I felt like this had so much potential but wow am I disappointed!! there were too many characters to keep track of imo and the prose was just a bit too meandering for me to enjoy. y was the most detailed sex scene at the beginning of the book with the ‘russian whore’ ?? and then practically nothing for the duration of the book?? this has been on my tbr for a long time and whew am I sad
I felt like this had so much potential but wow am I disappointed!! there were too many characters to keep track of imo and the prose was just a bit too meandering for me to enjoy. y was the most detailed sex scene at the beginning of the book with the ‘russian whore’ ?? and then practically nothing for the duration of the book?? this has been on my tbr for a long time and whew am I sad
trin's review against another edition
3.0
In the early part of the 19th century, a young winemaker sees an angel out in the field behind his house. They talk for a while; eventually they agree to meet every year on the same night. I loved this premise; it reminded me of one of my favorite stories ever, [author: Neil Gaiman]’s “Men of Good Fortune.” The difference is that “Good Fortune” is about someone who will live forever, while Luck takes place over a single human lifetime. Also, in Luck, our human protagonist, Sobran, and his otherworldly visitor actually become lovers. Score!
Well, sort of. This book is actually not nearly as good as “Men of Good Fortune,” although that’s setting the bar pretty high, in my opinion. The relationship between Sobran, his angel, and Aurora—a young widow Sobran also comes to have an important connection with—is wonderful and rich and nuanced. I liked all three of these characters very much. The book’s theology, however, confused me deeply: I did not understand it at all, which made the motivations of the higher powers at work in this novel—some of whom made personal appearances—completely opaque to me. The love story (stories!) still moved me, but I felt like I was missing the larger meaning of the text.
Also, the ending decidedly underwhelmed. The structure is so linear—year by year by year—that I felt that the climatic moments came at odd places in the story. So this is another one that goes into the category of “didn’t love it, still worth reading.” Just make sure you’ve read “Men of Good Fortune” first!
Well, sort of. This book is actually not nearly as good as “Men of Good Fortune,” although that’s setting the bar pretty high, in my opinion. The relationship between Sobran, his angel, and Aurora—a young widow Sobran also comes to have an important connection with—is wonderful and rich and nuanced. I liked all three of these characters very much. The book’s theology, however, confused me deeply: I did not understand it at all, which made the motivations of the higher powers at work in this novel—some of whom made personal appearances—completely opaque to me. The love story (stories!) still moved me, but I felt like I was missing the larger meaning of the text.
Also, the ending decidedly underwhelmed. The structure is so linear—year by year by year—that I felt that the climatic moments came at odd places in the story. So this is another one that goes into the category of “didn’t love it, still worth reading.” Just make sure you’ve read “Men of Good Fortune” first!
katsoa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
lbarsk's review against another edition
3.0
Y'all I don't know how to properly react to this book. Overall I'm just a little confused -- a lot of folks, including ones whose book recommendations I trust, hold this book up as like A Gold Standard Of Books, and it just didn't have that emotional resonance for me. I liked some things about the book, which I'm about to explain, but overall I just felt like the book kind of existed and I was able to appreciate certain aspects of it from arms' length.
Here's what I liked:
a) Aurora. Loved her. Could've used an entire book about her. What a FASCINATING character to examine? I'm glad she got more "screen time" as the book went on and that we got glimpses inside her head.
b) The concept of Xas as this embodiment of an agreement between God and Lucifer, and the wholly new view of God, Lucifer, Heaven, and Hell that Knox introduces. I'll always have an unfortunate soft spot for depictions of Lucifer because of Sandman, and this Lucifer didn't disappoint. Also, having a God that (to the reader) seems almost human is actually really interesting to read.
c) Xas! I would actually read more things in this ~*~universe*~* if they existed because I want to read more about Xas and better understand him. He's this combination of extremely tender and extremely caring and then WILDLY DEVASTATING AND CRUEL, which we all know is something that I love to see developed and explored in characterization.
And in terms of what I can distantly appreciate, it's the writing and the fact that the book is told year-by-year. At times I was like "Okay, we get it, this is POETIC," but also you don't see a lot of books written so... deliberately? Is that how to put it? It's kind of nice to have a book where the prose is treated like poetry because it means that every single word has its right place and every image is specifically invoking something else. It just got to be a little too much for me at times. The year-by-year construction got more bearable and interesting as the book went on; in the beginning I could not for the life of me string any events together or see where tiny details would add up to some bigger story (or some bigger arc of Sobran's life), which meant that getting tiny yearly glimpses really bothered me. I can also "distantly appreciate" Sobran as a main character -- he is the SO DECIDEDLY HUMAN contrast to Otherworldly Xas, and I think that in him Knox really nailed "the human condition," i.e., something unpredictable and always-changing and stubborn and impassioned.
So my issue is... taking everything I've written here, why am I not more fired up about this book? Why am I not like, GOING ALL IN for it the way I have with other books I've read this year? Or why am I not at least more like COOL GOOD LOOK AT THESE GOOD QUALITIES, READ THIS BOOK? And I guess that's why I can only give it 3 stars -- I liked it, but it just didn't Hook Me the way other books have. Which I almost feel bad about? Given that I did like parts of it? Oy. I guess I'd say... read it if you're curious to get a Very Different View of the traditional Heaven-and-Hell narrative that you find in books that toy with religious themes. And/or read it if you're into romances that span lifetimes and are Fated, etc. etc., because that's definitely here too.
Here's what I liked:
a) Aurora. Loved her. Could've used an entire book about her. What a FASCINATING character to examine? I'm glad she got more "screen time" as the book went on and that we got glimpses inside her head.
b) The concept of Xas as this embodiment of an agreement between God and Lucifer, and the wholly new view of God, Lucifer, Heaven, and Hell that Knox introduces. I'll always have an unfortunate soft spot for depictions of Lucifer because of Sandman, and this Lucifer didn't disappoint. Also, having a God that (to the reader) seems almost human is actually really interesting to read.
c) Xas! I would actually read more things in this ~*~universe*~* if they existed because I want to read more about Xas and better understand him. He's this combination of extremely tender and extremely caring and then WILDLY DEVASTATING AND CRUEL, which we all know is something that I love to see developed and explored in characterization.
And in terms of what I can distantly appreciate, it's the writing and the fact that the book is told year-by-year. At times I was like "Okay, we get it, this is POETIC," but also you don't see a lot of books written so... deliberately? Is that how to put it? It's kind of nice to have a book where the prose is treated like poetry because it means that every single word has its right place and every image is specifically invoking something else. It just got to be a little too much for me at times. The year-by-year construction got more bearable and interesting as the book went on; in the beginning I could not for the life of me string any events together or see where tiny details would add up to some bigger story (or some bigger arc of Sobran's life), which meant that getting tiny yearly glimpses really bothered me. I can also "distantly appreciate" Sobran as a main character -- he is the SO DECIDEDLY HUMAN contrast to Otherworldly Xas, and I think that in him Knox really nailed "the human condition," i.e., something unpredictable and always-changing and stubborn and impassioned.
So my issue is... taking everything I've written here, why am I not more fired up about this book? Why am I not like, GOING ALL IN for it the way I have with other books I've read this year? Or why am I not at least more like COOL GOOD LOOK AT THESE GOOD QUALITIES, READ THIS BOOK? And I guess that's why I can only give it 3 stars -- I liked it, but it just didn't Hook Me the way other books have. Which I almost feel bad about? Given that I did like parts of it? Oy. I guess I'd say... read it if you're curious to get a Very Different View of the traditional Heaven-and-Hell narrative that you find in books that toy with religious themes. And/or read it if you're into romances that span lifetimes and are Fated, etc. etc., because that's definitely here too.
casspro's review against another edition
3.0
Parts of this novel were very slow, and others parts I read multiple times because they were so beautiful and compelling. Xas and Sobran's love story is complicated and dark and pure and selfish and wonderful. I loved the philosophy and religious icons incorporated into the story line. The portrayal of Lucifer in particular was very interesting. The downsides of the story were the characters outside of the family. I felt that they didn't add anything to the drama or the progress of the plot. But Knox's writing is beautiful. I've not read anything quite like her before. It's soft and delicate and then it whacks you over the head with a line that gives you chills.