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genteelblackhole's review against another edition
4.0
Connie Willis writes long novels. Some of them, like Doomsday Book and / All Clear, manage to keep me gripped and intrigued throughout. Others, like To Say Nothing of the Dog, have strong beginnings and ends but a baggy middle. (To be fair, if you're not a fan of her style, even the ones I found gripping will probably still annoy you.)
Passage falls into the latter camp. It establishes an intriguing story, pays it off well, but meanders somewhat in the middle. Joanna's desperate search becomes repetitive. How many times do I need to read about her trying to avoid Mr Mandrake, or trying to navigate the labyrinthine corridors of the hospital? Overall I still enjoyed the book enough to give it four stars, and I found the way it handled grief quite relatable. But I think some of the near-death experiences and mad dashes around hospital corridors could've been condensed.
Passage falls into the latter camp. It establishes an intriguing story, pays it off well, but meanders somewhat in the middle. Joanna's desperate search becomes repetitive. How many times do I need to read about her trying to avoid Mr Mandrake, or trying to navigate the labyrinthine corridors of the hospital? Overall I still enjoyed the book enough to give it four stars, and I found the way it handled grief quite relatable. But I think some of the near-death experiences and mad dashes around hospital corridors could've been condensed.
pc2207's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
mosshroomish's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
sariene's review against another edition
3.0
So I feel like I should get a medal for finally finishing this book. It is WAY. TOO. LONG. Now, I don't dislike long books in general, and expect that to some degree from Connie Willis, since I have already read Blackout and All Clear. However, I legitimately feel that you could cut this book by a third and not lose anything important, and have a much better experience. It feels like an odd thing to say, but I think she needs a far less patient editor, who won't take this much repetitive fluff in a book. It dragged so badly that I was extremely frustrated long before I got to the end. It was so bad that I've actually deducted two full stars, if it were a reasonable length this would be a five star book for me. But I hated reading it by the end, and that was just sad.
ybenhayun's review against another edition
2.0
I actually did like a lot of this but this book could have easily been 300 pages shorter.
sienamystic's review against another edition
2.0
I've explained my relationship with many of this author's books before. Her plotting sometimes drives me batty, her characters tend to be very lightly sketched in at times, and she relies on the near miss in a frustrating way. That said, this book punched down hard on personal issues and fears in a gut wrenching way. It's the only book of hers I can't imagine retreading, in short- powerful, flawed, frustrating, beautiful.
lulumoss's review against another edition
4.0
The science around the Near Death Experiences was fun to think about, but overall I don't think I liked it as much as I was hoping to. It was longer than it needed to be, there was a lot of dead-horse-beating, and WAY too much racing around the hallways, elevators, and stairs of the hospital.
ritobanrc's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Cool book, its a fascinating idea, following scientists who are investigating near death experiences. Great potential for a super emotional, high-stakes book, and Willis largely delivers on that front. I didn't end up loving the style, there are little phrases Willis likes to keep repeating, and portions of the book where it feels things aren't progressing. Altogether, well done, but not quite my cup of tea.
cayeman's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
jfaberrit's review against another edition
2.0
When you realize in the middle of a book about near-death experiences that you want most of the characters to just die and get it over with, it is not a good sign. There are some moments of levity, but overall, this is kind of an awful, heavy-handed, repetitive book whose main philosophical point was neither revelatory nor all that interesting. Among the stylistic tics designed seemingly to drive a reader nuts, everyone is always running around endlessly, described in agonizing detail. I get that etting from point A to point B in hospitals with construction projects is hard. I got it the tenth time. By the twentieth time (no exaggeration!) it is just filling space. The understanding of research medicine seems tenuous at best, and the wonder-drug approach at the end a sop to the softhearted for having tortured them so long. A doctor actually tries to undergo a experimental simulated near-death experience to somehow reach a shared dream state with a colleague, as if that makes any sense at all. If someone were to do that in real life, they would be suspended for unsafe research practices and given a psych evaluation because it is, you know, totally crazy. All in all, a confused, repetitive muddle.