aneton's review
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-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
5.0
nats96's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
xantaranth's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
rosielazar1's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
shewasonlyevie's review against another edition
5.0
Cloven Hooves is a book that feels incredibly personal to me--and, no, not just because the protagonist's name is Evelyn--that I find it hard to justify my high rating or even to recommend it to others, even those readers who already love Robin Hobb / Megan Lindholm.
Told in first person present tense, the narrative begins as Evelyn is flying with her small family made up of her husband, Tom, and her son, Teddy, from Alaska to Washington to help Tom's parents at the family farm/business for a few months. Immediately, Hobb / Lindholm is able to suck you into Evelyn's world of otherness and isolation: you see Evelyn as an adult being an outsider to her husband's family and, in recollections of her childhood, you see her solace and comfort in nature and the challenge and hurt she faces in conformity. You quickly learn that Evelyn has a friend, her only friend, from childhood in a satyr, who she calls Pan. Her friend returns as they both have grown to adulthood, and she has to face the conflicts he presents in her life.
The prose is simultaneously gorgeous and brutal----but there is no gratuitousness to any of it. I have always said, since starting Realm of the Elderlings, that I would read anything she wrote, even if it was erotica: Cloven Hooves is as close to erotica as I think an author can get without it being labelled erotica, but it is still distinctly Robin Hobb / Megan Lindholm. It is also a coming-of-age novel and a fable and a deeply psychological depiction of, I think, a near-universal experience of depression and grief. It also is a beautiful exploration of the power of nature and connections.
Told in first person present tense, the narrative begins as Evelyn is flying with her small family made up of her husband, Tom, and her son, Teddy, from Alaska to Washington to help Tom's parents at the family farm/business for a few months. Immediately, Hobb / Lindholm is able to suck you into Evelyn's world of otherness and isolation: you see Evelyn as an adult being an outsider to her husband's family and, in recollections of her childhood, you see her solace and comfort in nature and the challenge and hurt she faces in conformity. You quickly learn that Evelyn has a friend, her only friend, from childhood in a satyr, who she calls Pan. Her friend returns as they both have grown to adulthood, and she has to face the conflicts he presents in her life.
The prose is simultaneously gorgeous and brutal--
Spoiler
from a moose poaching to satyr-human sex and childbirthelderlingfool's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
If you read the Farseer trilogy and thought Fitz was frustrating, you haven't seen anything yet. The main character of this book is the most frustrating one I ever encountered in any piece of media. Every time she excused the abuse of her husband or tried to make amends or ignore the abuse of her husband's family towards her I wanted to scream at her to leave already (what she keeps thinking about doing by the way). Initially, this book was fine, but it gets so repetitive that it feels much longer than it is. I am not saying that the way Evelyn acted wasn't realistic but it was extremely frustrating to read about the same thing over and over again.
This is a story about a woman named Evelyn that goes to spend some time at her husband's family farm together with her small son and her husband. It is also about her friendship with a faun she met as a kid and that she is unsure if he's real or something she imagined.
The parts with the family of Evelyn's husband look like an horror movie and the parts with the faun look like an erotic romance novel. The family's interactions with Evelyn got increasingly worse and it was infuriating to read, especially because Evelyn refused to do what she kept thinking about doing the entire time since she is very aware about how their treat her. Her husband's treatment of her, however, comes as a shock to her. I am pretty sure his parents are also verbally abusive towards him but he keeps defending them instead of his wife and kid (like a coward).
This is an incredibly frustrating book to read, but at least it made me feel something even if that something was anger. By the end I was hating the entire thing. Even if Evelyn got some victories, even if it was the intention of the author that the reader felt upset about what was happening, I still hated it. Since my ratings are more emotional that rational that is all I can say.
This is a story about a woman named Evelyn that goes to spend some time at her husband's family farm together with her small son and her husband. It is also about her friendship with a faun she met as a kid and that she is unsure if he's real or something she imagined.
The parts with the family of Evelyn's husband look like an horror movie and the parts with the faun look like an erotic romance novel. The family's interactions with Evelyn got increasingly worse and it was infuriating to read, especially because Evelyn refused to do what she kept thinking about doing the entire time since she is very aware about how their treat her. Her husband's treatment of her, however, comes as a shock to her. I am pretty sure his parents are also verbally abusive towards him but he keeps defending them instead of his wife and kid (like a coward).
This is an incredibly frustrating book to read, but at least it made me feel something even if that something was anger. By the end I was hating the entire thing. Even if Evelyn got some victories, even if it was the intention of the author that the reader felt upset about what was happening, I still hated it. Since my ratings are more emotional that rational that is all I can say.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Child death
marcatili's review against another edition
4.0
This is a difficult book for me to rate. As a big fan of 'Robin Hobb' novels, I've been looking forward to reading something with Megan Lindholm's name on it. 'Cloven Hooves' seemed thematically right down my alley, and in many ways it did not disappoint.
The author is a master at frustrating the reader by putting the protagonist through one injustice after another. Unlike works by Hobb, these injustices take place in the most mundane, domestic of settings. Be prepared to read a lot about cleaning houses and doing the shopping. The injustices build gradually higher until they're as unbearable for the reader as they are the protagonist. Escape becomes necessary.
Cloven Hooves is a complex book exploring the expectations put upon women. The protagonist, Evelyn, tries so hard to meet those expectations, but within her is the desire to be free. To be wild. This manifests in her love for the faun, which exists at the edges of her reality, urging her to leave the house and go into the forest.
Yet while Evelyn has a simmering strength of character below the surface, she is so often a passive protagonist, going where she is led and rarely standing up for herself in any way that goes beyond mere whining. Though her character journey from passive wife to free individual is part of the theme of the novel, she never escapes being reliant on men in her life.
The author is a master at frustrating the reader by putting the protagonist through one injustice after another. Unlike works by Hobb, these injustices take place in the most mundane, domestic of settings. Be prepared to read a lot about cleaning houses and doing the shopping. The injustices build gradually higher until they're as unbearable for the reader as they are the protagonist. Escape becomes necessary.
Cloven Hooves is a complex book exploring the expectations put upon women. The protagonist, Evelyn, tries so hard to meet those expectations, but within her is the desire to be free. To be wild. This manifests in her love for the faun, which exists at the edges of her reality, urging her to leave the house and go into the forest.
Yet while Evelyn has a simmering strength of character below the surface, she is so often a passive protagonist, going where she is led and rarely standing up for herself in any way that goes beyond mere whining. Though her character journey from passive wife to free individual is part of the theme of the novel, she never escapes being reliant on men in her life.
phunkypbj's review
3.0
This is a very unusual book. I can't say it's my favorite from Lindholm/Hobb but her talent for making you feel what a character feels and in building relationships you care about is in fine form here.
brightredday's review
4.0
This was a difficult book. It never went where I expected, and I've never read anything like it.
ortiga's review
3.0
This isn't a detailed review as I read the book nine months ago now and I tend to forget plot elements pretty quickly. Megan Lindholm (aka Robin Hobb) is my very favourite living author (the Farseer books are amazing) so of course, this is beautifully written, the subject matter is interesting and the characters are well drawn - but I just couldn't stomach the passivity of the protagonist.