Reviews

The Book of Flora by Meg Elison

redlotus_andjoy's review

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

silenttardis's review against another edition

3.0

Just finished the audiobook, did like that the person reading was a transexual, that gave dept to flora, that is also one, at first the story was good, but it kind of lost me in the middle, and the frag thing was the last drop... Is not a bad book, but the first one is the best of the three, if for some reason one stops in the first volume one, that's the best of the trilogy anyway.

yes_asha's review against another edition

4.0

Although the thought of an archival library on water makes me anxious... this was a great read.

magi20's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective tense 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? No

3.5

phildrysdale's review

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? Yes

4.25

clonegarden's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-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? No

5.0

dynamics between queer, trans, and intersex people who don't always have the words or tools to communicate their experiences for the win!

jessdone's review against another edition

4.0

Beautiful prose, complicated concepts, it's everything good dystopian science fiction should be. As with all of the books in "The Road to Nowhere Series," this book produced a certain level of depression and anxiety in me. In this case it over took me and I wasn't able to finish the book. It's still excellent though.

Obviously I can't speak to the ending as I only got about a third of the way through, but with this series, the ending wasn't really the point. It's a great journey and exploration of cultural and societal expectations. While I don't agree with every twist Elison makes, I don't have to agree to join her exploration.

While I hope one day to return to this book and complete it, I don't want to wait to review it when I know I'd recommend it to others. An engaging thoughtful read.

emujxox's review against another edition

3.0

Nowhere near as good as the other two in the series in my opinion. Still had some really interesting ideas around gender and societal structure in a post-apocalyptic world, but the plot was a lot less captivating than the previous instalments. 

I will say that the final chapters were a bit silly - Flora was right in the sense that I just don’t believe humans would evolve asexual reproduction in just over a century. Will also echo the opinion of other reviews in that having the only NB character be inherently evil compared to the other characters was an odd choice.

being_b's review against another edition

2.0

Collapsed like a flan in a cupboard. I loved the realism of the first book which chronicles society's collapse, and the second book which gives a pretty good sampling of the various ways people are trying to survive in this new world. The conclusion goes in some some fantastical directions and gets a bit preachy (luxuries = slavery, etc), plus the ending is a weird out-of-nowhere letdown.

Also, apparently nothing of interest has happened to Flora for 40 years, from 104 to 144- she's found no new lovers, no family, no changes in her worldview or role at all? Beggars belief.

Spoiler warning for enbyphobia:

Spoiler

Can we please not have the only nonbinary character in the book turn out to be a murderous genocidal crazypants? Like, after three books of juggling gender and identity in many fascinating permutations, we end with "nonbinary person, traumatized by their body, tries to kill everybody"? How does that work? I'm left with the impression that the author thinks almost any way of doing gender is fine except opting out entirely. No thank you.

greenhedgehog's review against another edition

5.0

Loved the final book of the trio. Really helped with the second book and loved the main character.