Reviews

The Furrows by Namwali Serpell

yenapad's review against another edition

3.0

3.5

annexelizabeth's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

i wanted to fall in love with this novel, but unfortunately the approach here didn't quite work for me. i thought the first part of this novel, with its exploration of grief, trauma, and identity, was intriguing. it captured the surrealness of loss and trauma quite nicely, and i wanted to stay in cassandra's head, exploring these themes. however, we ended up switching to another point of view, which in turned shifted the prose style, which i had liked fine in the first part of the book. this character's story only vaguely connected to cassandra's story, and i found him insufferable and his narration to be dull. when we shifted back to cassandra's pov, it felt like too little too late — i wanted so much more of what we had started with, and instead suddenly we were focusing on the interlacing of cassandra and quasi-wayne's stories, which was not that interesting to me. overall, decent, but not as good as i had hoped.

edwarda132's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lidathepida's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The first part of the book is like picking at a painful scab I’ve rand over, heartbreaking. And then part two feels like a good lighter balance somehow while still remaining dark. I feel all scrambled but ina. Good way. Great writing. 

kayann's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

hanboban's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

ncteixeira's review against another edition

Interesting concept, but in my opinion the development lacks clarity - and I don’t read fiction books with the intention to analyze it.

Because I didn’t understand this book,  I won’t rate it, as it would be unfair. 

But I did read the whole thing, even though I felt totally disconnected. I even listened to the audiobook as I read the book.

Although not bad, I did find the writing a bit repetitive.

The storyline is more than just about grieving, but I really did not care about this book,

Fortunately it’s a small book.

Now, if you want to read something else about grieving, I do recommend “Harry’s Trees”, by Jon Cohen.

Ebook (Kobo): 295 pages (default), 80k words

Audiobook Narrated by Kristen Ariza, Ryan Vincent Anderson, Dion Graham: 8.8 hours (normal speed)

marsican's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

jennshelfishlife's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

larebe's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

The first part had me hooked, but I had trouble with the second half for a few reasons, namely the seismic shift in narrator and tone. But I love Serpell’s adventurous writing style, so it was worth it. The Old Drift is one of my favorite books so this is one is definitely different.