findyourgoldenhour's review
3.0
It took me a while to get into this one, but once I did I enjoyed it. I wasn't in love with it, I didn't finish it thinking, "Oh, I will definitely recommend this one!!". To paraphrase Larry David, it was pretty, pretty good.
adrienneambo's review
4.0
Part real life drama, part mystery this book's characters were wonderfully developed. While the storyline shifted from different sets of characters, I found myself equally missing each set of characters as I read.
morepagesplease's review
3.0
I was intrigued by the the premise, but ultimately I found the novel to be just so-so. I found aspects of the novel to be completely far fetched, especially when I wondered why none of these characters ever bothered to perform a Google search on each other or look into the past. It was well written, but one I think I will quickly forget.
readingundertheradar's review
4.0
Elegant prose and mysterious, well-crafted characters — Guzeman nailed them. I was constantly blown away by her lyrical writing, and I'm just going to place on of my favorite quotes here to give you an idea (for context, he's speaking to the artist of a painting):
"You have been praised for your rendering of minute details in your work." Stephen paused, thinking about the first time he'd seen one of Bayber's paintings. "It's like looking at a puzzle, isn't it? The longer and closer you look, the more you see. And once something is seen, it cannot be unseen. The viewer is never able to take in the piece as he did the fist time — indeed the initial impression is gone and cannot be recalled."
The art history nerd in me loved every second of the discussions about art and the details they contain. The family connections were especially intriguing, and it was like a soft mystery throughout the course of the novel. I desperately wanted to know what happened in the past to make certain characters the way they were and why some of them no longer talked with others.
This was just one of those books that is so thoughtful and makes you read slowly because you want to read every single word on the page. And it wasn't action-packed or anything, and at times I felt like the plot moved excruciatingly slowly (which was the only negative I took away from the book at all), but even then, Guzeman's writing was so intriguing that it almost didn't matter.
"You have been praised for your rendering of minute details in your work." Stephen paused, thinking about the first time he'd seen one of Bayber's paintings. "It's like looking at a puzzle, isn't it? The longer and closer you look, the more you see. And once something is seen, it cannot be unseen. The viewer is never able to take in the piece as he did the fist time — indeed the initial impression is gone and cannot be recalled."
The art history nerd in me loved every second of the discussions about art and the details they contain. The family connections were especially intriguing, and it was like a soft mystery throughout the course of the novel. I desperately wanted to know what happened in the past to make certain characters the way they were and why some of them no longer talked with others.
This was just one of those books that is so thoughtful and makes you read slowly because you want to read every single word on the page. And it wasn't action-packed or anything, and at times I felt like the plot moved excruciatingly slowly (which was the only negative I took away from the book at all), but even then, Guzeman's writing was so intriguing that it almost didn't matter.
jessthebookworm's review
3.0
More like 2.5 stars.
This story follows the lives of Alice and Natalie Kessler, and the events of the summer during their adolescence which changed their lives forever. Alice and Natalie met the talented older painter, Thomas Bayber when they were teenagers, whilst on holiday with their parents at the lake, and he wants to paint family portraits for them, all the while with the sisters forming an interest in him.
The story jumps to the present day, where Thomas is now a renowned artist, who unveils his work of the Kessler sisters, which has never before been released, and asks his old colleagues to go on a search for the missing paintings and the sisters whom he has not had contact with in decades.
The story follows the hardships that the sisters have faced over the years, the regrets, the heartbreak, the resentment and the deep dark secrets.
The story line was very intriguing, but I just wasn't sure that the structure of the book worked all that well for me. The jumping around in the timelines was a bit oddly pieced together, and I think I really would have enjoyed it more if it had been pieced together differently.
This story follows the lives of Alice and Natalie Kessler, and the events of the summer during their adolescence which changed their lives forever. Alice and Natalie met the talented older painter, Thomas Bayber when they were teenagers, whilst on holiday with their parents at the lake, and he wants to paint family portraits for them, all the while with the sisters forming an interest in him.
The story jumps to the present day, where Thomas is now a renowned artist, who unveils his work of the Kessler sisters, which has never before been released, and asks his old colleagues to go on a search for the missing paintings and the sisters whom he has not had contact with in decades.
The story follows the hardships that the sisters have faced over the years, the regrets, the heartbreak, the resentment and the deep dark secrets.
The story line was very intriguing, but I just wasn't sure that the structure of the book worked all that well for me. The jumping around in the timelines was a bit oddly pieced together, and I think I really would have enjoyed it more if it had been pieced together differently.
audgru's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
eclectictales's review
3.0
I won a copy of this book from a contest held on Twitter by @HistoricalFix. This review in its entirety was originally posted at eclectictales.com: http://www.eclectictales.com/blog/2015/09/17/review-the-gravity-of-birds/
I thought The Gravity of Birds was interesting and was quite strong at the beginning in presenting the two storylines: that of the Kessler sisters and the arrival of Thomas Bayber in their lives, and the contemporary story with an elderly Thomas seeking out the sisters. It left me wondering what what happened to the Kessler sisters, what was really going on between them as the rift was palpable even at the start, etc. The book was also interesting on touching on themes of art, the drive to create, and art criticism, all of which were pretty strong early in the novel. Core to this novel however is the theme of family and the notion of how strong the bonds of blood are when faced with illness and personal tragedy, disappointment and resentment.
Having said that, the novel sort of ambled in the latter half of the novel. I’m not sure if it was the time that I finished reading the book, but one minor problem I was having throughout the novel was my sense of time within the story. Most chapters indicate the year in which events in the chapter are taking place, either in the past or the present, but a) sometimes the 1960s/1970s events feel like they could take place in the early 20th century, and b) some of the chapters are missing dates when the shift has turned from Alice to Dennis and Stephen. Also, while I don’t mind that the emphasis shifted towards the mystery in the second half with the two storylines merging, it physically felt like the novel moved away from the earlier themes of art and self.
Despite of this, I did enjoy reading The Gravity of Birds. The story of Alice and Natalie and Thomas had me completely enthralled, as well as Dennis and Stephen’s attempts to find out what happened back then. Speaking of which, the Dennis and Stephen dynamic was quite interesting to read at first especially as their road trip started off rather hilariously. But I felt like their respective character stories weren’t as strong as they could be (though Dennis’ personal backstory was much more interesting and fleshed out), probably just because the main story was just too intriging to digress to other characters that weave in and out of the main story. I would recommend The Gravity of Birds to readers of historical fiction.
Rating: 3.5/5
I thought The Gravity of Birds was interesting and was quite strong at the beginning in presenting the two storylines: that of the Kessler sisters and the arrival of Thomas Bayber in their lives, and the contemporary story with an elderly Thomas seeking out the sisters. It left me wondering what what happened to the Kessler sisters, what was really going on between them as the rift was palpable even at the start, etc. The book was also interesting on touching on themes of art, the drive to create, and art criticism, all of which were pretty strong early in the novel. Core to this novel however is the theme of family and the notion of how strong the bonds of blood are when faced with illness and personal tragedy, disappointment and resentment.
Having said that, the novel sort of ambled in the latter half of the novel. I’m not sure if it was the time that I finished reading the book, but one minor problem I was having throughout the novel was my sense of time within the story. Most chapters indicate the year in which events in the chapter are taking place, either in the past or the present, but a) sometimes the 1960s/1970s events feel like they could take place in the early 20th century, and b) some of the chapters are missing dates when the shift has turned from Alice to Dennis and Stephen. Also, while I don’t mind that the emphasis shifted towards the mystery in the second half with the two storylines merging, it physically felt like the novel moved away from the earlier themes of art and self.
Despite of this, I did enjoy reading The Gravity of Birds. The story of Alice and Natalie and Thomas had me completely enthralled, as well as Dennis and Stephen’s attempts to find out what happened back then. Speaking of which, the Dennis and Stephen dynamic was quite interesting to read at first especially as their road trip started off rather hilariously. But I felt like their respective character stories weren’t as strong as they could be (though Dennis’ personal backstory was much more interesting and fleshed out), probably just because the main story was just too intriging to digress to other characters that weave in and out of the main story. I would recommend The Gravity of Birds to readers of historical fiction.
Rating: 3.5/5