megelizabeth's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
"...he knew the ocean - both what it could give a swimmer who was paying attention and what it could take away."
This looks at loss and grief in a really interesting, unique way, and also explores 1930s life, customs, and expectations and has a lot to say about wealth and religion and family. It's very well-written and hugely evocative and immersive, painting a vivid picture of 1930s Atlantic City, and there are many truly beautiful and bittersweet moments.
However, I found that I didn't love the direction the story ended up going in, and the ending felt, to me, pretty rushed and unsatisfying. Additionally, the fact that we get the perspectives of so many different characters meant that some feel underdeveloped and that it did feel like a lot was missing both plot-wise and character-exploration-wise. I admire the author's ambition in structuring the story in this way, but it just ultimately didn't quite work for me. It also bothered me that I found Esther's and Joseph's characters read as much older than they actually are, and this meant I struggled to get into their heads and to connect with them.
To me, this was an unfortunate case of exciting and worthy idea, but slightly poor execution.
This looks at loss and grief in a really interesting, unique way, and also explores 1930s life, customs, and expectations and has a lot to say about wealth and religion and family. It's very well-written and hugely evocative and immersive, painting a vivid picture of 1930s Atlantic City, and there are many truly beautiful and bittersweet moments.
However, I found that I didn't love the direction the story ended up going in, and the ending felt, to me, pretty rushed and unsatisfying. Additionally, the fact that we get the perspectives of so many different characters meant that some feel underdeveloped and that it did feel like a lot was missing both plot-wise and character-exploration-wise. I admire the author's ambition in structuring the story in this way, but it just ultimately didn't quite work for me. It also bothered me that I found Esther's and Joseph's characters read as much older than they actually are, and this meant I struggled to get into their heads and to connect with them.
To me, this was an unfortunate case of exciting and worthy idea, but slightly poor execution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Antisemitism, and Racism
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