Reviews

Delphi by Clare Pollard

hillaryd's review

dark reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

I enjoyed the structure, dividing the book into sections based on different kinds of prophecy, but found the perspective to be extremely autobiographical except with a few name changes. The author is an academic, as is the main character, so it reads as both a non-fiction and fiction, with some avant-garde pieces that are lifted from greek tragedies and internal monologues about how miserable life was during the height of covid. Perhaps it just hit too close to home. I disliked how passively the main character observed the world, probably because it reminded of my own and everyone else's reality for a period of time. I personally think the wound of the pandemic is too fresh, we need to put some vaseline and cover it with a bandage for a little while longer until we're ready to make long-lasting art out of it. 

samantha_102's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

moon_bean77's review against another edition

2.75

I enjoyed the chapter titles and learning about different types of divination but the book itself I feel spent too much time talking about OTHER books which made this short book feel incredibly sparse and lacking much actual writing. I have also learned i just do not enjoy reading about the pandemic in fiction but that's just my preference. The ending felt lazy and i just didn't really care about the characters that much. This book was fine, i read it in a day. 

jennyvcarey's review against another edition

1.0

I did not enjoy this at all. Delphi is a meandering, and depressing yawn of a book describing a woman’s struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, with loads of Ancient Greek references that do absolutely nothing for the ‘story’. I use the term ‘story’ lightly, because the book has somehow made some of the most turbulent, dystopian and horrifying recent times seem utterly boring. I’m an archaeologist and love ancient history in general, so I thought the references might be able to spark some interest even if the story itself was a non-event, but it just didn’t work. This was not for me.

joutha's review against another edition

reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No

4.0

it felt less like a novel, more like a meditation on the pandemic through the lens of a character that might give the author some distance. 

aqeela's review against another edition

3.0

3.35 stars, rounded down

freckles_and_books's review against another edition

informative reflective tense fast-paced

4.25

chanelchapters's review against another edition

5.0

4.75

whilst I don't really care for flashbacks to Covid lockdowns, I enjoyed the way this was written.
Each chapter is titled with a type of "mancy" - divination tools like tarot, palmistry, tea leaf reading etc. There are a lot of references to Greek mythology, which I love, and I got to learn cool new words like "hamsterkauf".
I took a quarter point off for the inifidelity.
it felt a lil fiction/non fiction to me and I enjoyed my time with it.

watch: https://www.youtube.com/@starkissedstories

hi_world_101's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.0

elsakern's review against another edition

funny reflective tense

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

4.0