Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - Aja aurasi vainajain luitten yli

hmm. i really don’t know what to think about this book. this is one of the rare times where i read other reviews simply because i don’t know how to describe my thoughts on this.

i really think my expectations for this were set incredibly high, and this book didn’t meet them. i mean it’s in NYTs top 100 books of the 21st century (voted by the public) so i expected something….. More. i mean the author won a nobel prize! i expected to be enthralled but instead i was mildly interested.

the main character felt one-note. after a while, her only talking about animals or astrology became frustrating. there felt as though there wasn’t much to her, until the penultimate chapter, but even then it couldn’t save my opinions of her throughout the story.

the plot seems to meander, not really doing too much. there’s a death, then the mc yaps about eccentric topics, a death occurs, and wash rinse repeat. i’m not really too big a fan of stories without a driving force, and it really just felt like i was reading one of those recipes online where the author writes 45 paragraphs before the actual recipe. like homegirl i don’t give a shit about how animals are murdering everyone… i just want you to be solving this shit! i was expecting this to be a real mystery, but it felt like the ‘plot’ of the deaths took a back seat, which was really odd. i did find some things the mc talked about interesting philosophically, but then it was peppered with the words of a mad man. idk i didn’t find i had any feelings towards the mc, therefore i wanted to rip my hair out every time she rambled.

this book felt like it was ‘stream of consciousness’, and sorry i can’t fucking stand books like that!!! i at least need SOMETHING to connect the book. although the deaths were that link, and the book is marketed towards the mystery element, it felt as though they were brushed past instead to focus on the 7th paragraph about how the mc hates animal cruelty. like i’m with u girl but at the same time you have no discernible personality outside of that.

i really tried to like this, and at times i was tangentially intrigued by the book, most of the time i was just like “….meh”. i really hope this is just an issue of this plot and not of the actual writer because if it’s the latter…… girl.

Content Warnings

breadbummer's review against another edition

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funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Can we please get more books narrated by weird old women??? Because of this type of main character, I don't think I've ever read a book quite like this. I'll admit, it did seem kind of slow to me in some parts but, even at these sections, just like with Duszejko's love of astrology, paying attention to the tiniest details is key to figuring out what's going on. I definitely had my suspicions as the book progressed, but I was still glued to the page when everything was revealed.

Content Warnings

welaneyding's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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suzyq's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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contemporarymeepsie's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead is set in a remote forested village near the Polish border with the Czech Republic. Mrs Duszejko lives on her own with only her few neighbours for company. It is a tight-knit community but that doesn't mean everyone gets along, and when one such neighbour accidentally chokes and dies on an animal bone, it sparks a flurry of murders in the area.
I think I missed the hook of this book. I understood the points it was making about animal cruelty and our definitions of insanity and the hypocrisy of religious hunting and so forth. I just wasn't interested in anything that was happening. I'm not a big fan of books that waffle and this was very waffley which is unfortunate as it was recommended to me by a close friend who defined it as his favourite book of the year. I found it dull and the ending was predictable. I wouldn't recommend this book but not because it was "bad" or poorly written; it was exceptionally written, but because it was dull and not my kind of book. Sorry Mike!

Content Warnings

almostqualified's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

thursdd4y's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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