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zwischenzeilen's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
spacewhombus's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was magical, and I loved how this author writes about nature and Taiwan. I learned a lot about Taiwan's geography and indigenous people, as well as the wildlife of the sea and mountains and how climate change is affecting the island.
There are a handful of main characters, and piece by piece the reader gets the life story of each of them and how they all ended up together in a remote area on Taiwan's east coast. I loved the switching around of perspectives and stories, although if you are a fan of more linear storytelling then you might want to steer clear.
I really liked Hafay, Dahu, and Alice, and enjoyed hearing about how Hafay and Dahu were raised in different indigenous communities, as well as how Alice came to meet her Danish husband and raise a special child in a special house. Alice's grief over losing her family was one of the main themes guiding the entire book, as she struggles to deal with that in the face of a climate-induced crisis (a piece of the trash vortex landing in Taiwan, right on the east coast- destroying their community). However, my favorite character was Atile'i, and it was fascinating to hear about his island and his perspective of the trash vortex and then Taiwan and Alice.
I only wish this book had made me cry- but otherwise really enjoyed it!
There are a handful of main characters, and piece by piece the reader gets the life story of each of them and how they all ended up together in a remote area on Taiwan's east coast. I loved the switching around of perspectives and stories, although if you are a fan of more linear storytelling then you might want to steer clear.
I really liked Hafay, Dahu, and Alice, and enjoyed hearing about how Hafay and Dahu were raised in different indigenous communities, as well as how Alice came to meet her Danish husband and raise a special child in a special house. Alice's grief over losing her family was one of the main themes guiding the entire book, as she struggles to deal with that in the face of a climate-induced crisis (a piece of the trash vortex landing in Taiwan, right on the east coast- destroying their community). However, my favorite character was Atile'i, and it was fascinating to hear about his island and his perspective of the trash vortex and then Taiwan and Alice.
I only wish this book had made me cry- but otherwise really enjoyed it!
nickyxxx's review against another edition
2.0
2.25 stars.
The first book of 2023 is out, and the first book of 2023... was a major disappointment. I won't say it was a bad book because it was evident that a lot of effort and energy went into it, so to call it a mess would be unfair. And hidden behind all the symbolism, there's probably a beautiful message, and I hope other people can find it.
But diving deeper... No, I couldn't make sense of this. Firstly, the book was 90% flashbacks, and although it may have suited this book, it's just not my taste. There were so many characters reflecting on certain events in their lives, and those flashbacks seemed randomly chosen. Not all of them, but some were, and it completely confused me. If flashbacks dominate the majority of your story, I expect them to be related to the overarching plot, but that wasn't always the case here. Especially with secondary characters who, in my opinion, didn't contribute much to the main storyline. A story is not a story without characters, and almost every book needs supporting characters, but their flashbacks didn't add much to the story's message and, in fact, detracted from it.
Speaking of characters, I didn't understand them well. And by that, I mean the way these characters were introduced in the story. Normally, the various threads of characters converge at a certain point in the story, or at least, that's usually the case, and as a reader, you get to see how they are connected. But in this case, that wasn't so, or at least, I was left confused about their actual relationships. There are two main characters, clearly, but the rest remained vague. Sure, some supporting characters had an impact on the main characters, but others seemed to lead their own lives without contributing to the advancement of the story or strengthening the book's message. In fact, some characters had their own message that, as mentioned before, diverted from the main message of the book.
Side note: I also didn't find the characters particularly interesting – there were very few that truly caught my attention. To be honest, I only found Atile'i fascinating, with his cultural background and unique customs. The rest of the characters were flat and minimally developed, and some were nothing more than names on a page, which always feels lacking to me. With such a short book, more effort could have been put into this, even if the characters weren't always essential.
Now, let's talk about the story itself, which a) started very slowly, b) was mostly unclear to me, and c) left me quite confused. The environmental themes included in it are understandable, and I have nothing against them, but their connection to Alice's storyline remains unclear to me. Maybe that environmental message, like her primary storyline, has an influence on her personality, I don't know. It would be nice, but I didn't see it, and character development is usually something I care a lot about in books. Furthermore, there were too many perspectives and flashbacks to effectively portray climate change and convey the message. Sure, it's nice if you can depict the impact of climate change through the influence it has on a character. But when you throw in so many flashbacks and perspectives into the story, you can't develop all the characters so deeply and give them clear personalities – let alone show the development of those personalities resulting from climate change.
There seemed to be a lot of symbolism, and normally I have nothing against that, but this book seemed to consist of 70% symbolism, and I didn't understand half of it (well, actually, the majority). It becomes quite difficult to follow the story in that case. And maybe a lot was lost in translation, as others have pointed out to me, but well, that doesn't change the end result. Perhaps the original version is understandable, but this English edition, in particular, wasn't. Speaking of symbolism, the ending was a big question mark, and that can be intriguing because it keeps you thinking even after closing the book. However, in this case, I just don't feel like pondering over it – especially because the rest of the book couldn't hold my interest at all. What is true and what is imagination, or some kind of coping mechanism, can be a beautiful concept, but in this book, it was mostly confusing. That principle was thrown into the book towards the end, and as a result, I never felt the need to pay attention to the truthfulness of certain characters' perceptions throughout the book. If truth or memories are a theme in the book, there should have been a hint of it at the beginning so that as a reader, I understand that I should pay attention to that, creating an intriguing tension that holds my attention.
The original version is probably more understandable because, as others have pointed out, some things are inevitably lost in translation. But even then, this edition was not worth reading for me, and I quickly lost track.
TL;DR: A confusing book with shallow characters lacking coherence, with commendable/fascinating themes overshadowed by symbolism and seemingly irrelevant flashbacks.
The first book of 2023 is out, and the first book of 2023... was a major disappointment. I won't say it was a bad book because it was evident that a lot of effort and energy went into it, so to call it a mess would be unfair. And hidden behind all the symbolism, there's probably a beautiful message, and I hope other people can find it.
But diving deeper... No, I couldn't make sense of this. Firstly, the book was 90% flashbacks, and although it may have suited this book, it's just not my taste. There were so many characters reflecting on certain events in their lives, and those flashbacks seemed randomly chosen. Not all of them, but some were, and it completely confused me. If flashbacks dominate the majority of your story, I expect them to be related to the overarching plot, but that wasn't always the case here. Especially with secondary characters who, in my opinion, didn't contribute much to the main storyline. A story is not a story without characters, and almost every book needs supporting characters, but their flashbacks didn't add much to the story's message and, in fact, detracted from it.
Speaking of characters, I didn't understand them well. And by that, I mean the way these characters were introduced in the story. Normally, the various threads of characters converge at a certain point in the story, or at least, that's usually the case, and as a reader, you get to see how they are connected. But in this case, that wasn't so, or at least, I was left confused about their actual relationships. There are two main characters, clearly, but the rest remained vague. Sure, some supporting characters had an impact on the main characters, but others seemed to lead their own lives without contributing to the advancement of the story or strengthening the book's message. In fact, some characters had their own message that, as mentioned before, diverted from the main message of the book.
Side note: I also didn't find the characters particularly interesting – there were very few that truly caught my attention. To be honest, I only found Atile'i fascinating, with his cultural background and unique customs. The rest of the characters were flat and minimally developed, and some were nothing more than names on a page, which always feels lacking to me. With such a short book, more effort could have been put into this, even if the characters weren't always essential.
Now, let's talk about the story itself, which a) started very slowly, b) was mostly unclear to me, and c) left me quite confused. The environmental themes included in it are understandable, and I have nothing against them, but their connection to Alice's storyline remains unclear to me. Maybe that environmental message, like her primary storyline, has an influence on her personality, I don't know. It would be nice, but I didn't see it, and character development is usually something I care a lot about in books. Furthermore, there were too many perspectives and flashbacks to effectively portray climate change and convey the message. Sure, it's nice if you can depict the impact of climate change through the influence it has on a character. But when you throw in so many flashbacks and perspectives into the story, you can't develop all the characters so deeply and give them clear personalities – let alone show the development of those personalities resulting from climate change.
There seemed to be a lot of symbolism, and normally I have nothing against that, but this book seemed to consist of 70% symbolism, and I didn't understand half of it (well, actually, the majority). It becomes quite difficult to follow the story in that case. And maybe a lot was lost in translation, as others have pointed out to me, but well, that doesn't change the end result. Perhaps the original version is understandable, but this English edition, in particular, wasn't. Speaking of symbolism, the ending was a big question mark, and that can be intriguing because it keeps you thinking even after closing the book. However, in this case, I just don't feel like pondering over it – especially because the rest of the book couldn't hold my interest at all. What is true and what is imagination, or some kind of coping mechanism, can be a beautiful concept, but in this book, it was mostly confusing. That principle was thrown into the book towards the end, and as a result, I never felt the need to pay attention to the truthfulness of certain characters' perceptions throughout the book. If truth or memories are a theme in the book, there should have been a hint of it at the beginning so that as a reader, I understand that I should pay attention to that, creating an intriguing tension that holds my attention.
The original version is probably more understandable because, as others have pointed out, some things are inevitably lost in translation. But even then, this edition was not worth reading for me, and I quickly lost track.
TL;DR: A confusing book with shallow characters lacking coherence, with commendable/fascinating themes overshadowed by symbolism and seemingly irrelevant flashbacks.
lizzy_or_something's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
django018's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
A great story, to me, is one that haunts. Occasionally I read a book that, although enjoyed, is not immediately something I would declare as one of my 'must reads'... And then I think about it, and I think about it, and just like that it may as well be the wood grain in the planks of my brain house. This story is slippery, it's impossible to contain and even if I could, I wouldn't want to entrap it. This story moves with concealed, serrated edges, and stings at the wounds wrought by those edges with sugar and salt. It's two stories, it's everyone's story, and ultimately, it's a tale about loss and the sea.
chicken_s's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
kateofmind's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Starts kind of slow but builds into a fascinating tale, full of details from various indigenous peoples of the island we now call Taiwan.
marciepan's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
patwolf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
slow-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? Yes
4.75