masonanddixon's review against another edition
3.0
The book is an excellent puzzle box ready to be solved. However the act gathering all tthe pieces is only mildly enjoyable. Pasi's characters are strongly detailed with lives, histories, motivations, and his writing is uniformly serviceable and very easy to read (intentionally so). That being said, I was always one for the dynamic sentence, the prosody some call purple. In the end Pasi's intelligence shines through as the riddles he's lain come into view like ships out of fog, and the dream sequences are fun throughout. In ambition it's Nabokov by way of Marquez but in execution it's more Zafon.
shosh00's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
meetmeinmalkovich's review
1.0
This book is lucky it got the one star that it did. I said what I said.
I’m honesty not sure where to start with this review. I was really disappointed because when I began this book, it had so much potential and I thought the plot was going to take a far different turn than it did. In fact that turn went down several dead end roads, leaving me wondering what the heck was even happening or what the point of this book even was. Not to mention it is heralded as magical realism, which is fantasy — not science fiction — and the fantastical elements it did have were again: pointless. They didn’t connect at all with the story as a whole and it felt like the author just threw a bunch of random ideas onto the page that ended up going nowhere and were never truly explained. As if this was a 300-odd page brainstorming exercise.
Not to mention the way the characters where constantly referred to by their full names. I didn’t care for it. Or the way Ella’s barrenness and “beautifully curving lips” kept popping up in conversation as if it had anything to do with the actual plot. Spoiler: it did not.
I honestly couldn’t tell you what this was actually about because aside from Ella becoming the tenth member of a dying literature society, nothing happened of significance until the very very end and even then it made no sense to the story, whatever that even was.
I’m honesty not sure where to start with this review. I was really disappointed because when I began this book, it had so much potential and I thought the plot was going to take a far different turn than it did. In fact that turn went down several dead end roads, leaving me wondering what the heck was even happening or what the point of this book even was. Not to mention it is heralded as magical realism, which is fantasy — not science fiction — and the fantastical elements it did have were again: pointless. They didn’t connect at all with the story as a whole and it felt like the author just threw a bunch of random ideas onto the page that ended up going nowhere and were never truly explained. As if this was a 300-odd page brainstorming exercise.
Not to mention the way the characters where constantly referred to by their full names. I didn’t care for it. Or the way Ella’s barrenness and “beautifully curving lips” kept popping up in conversation as if it had anything to do with the actual plot. Spoiler: it did not.
I honestly couldn’t tell you what this was actually about because aside from Ella becoming the tenth member of a dying literature society, nothing happened of significance until the very very end and even then it made no sense to the story, whatever that even was.
eltigre's review against another edition
3.0
Tohle je docela těžké hodnotit, protože mě to fakt bavilo a líbilo se mi to, ale že by mě to nějak zvlášť převálcovalo, to zase říct nemůžu...
ajaggers324's review against another edition
This book defies generalizations, categories, and ratings.
violet_hayes's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Dementia, books scrambling together like swapped spit, forgotten faces hiding in photos, an obese author becoming handsome, all knotted together and somehow tease apart into a single thematic thread.
I enjoyed aspects of the magical realism, but I wonder if there isn't something of Finnish culture lost in translation? The twist certainly felt Finnish, but the ending was terribly unsatisfying.
I enjoyed aspects of the magical realism, but I wonder if there isn't something of Finnish culture lost in translation? The twist certainly felt Finnish,
Spoiler
Finland is the only country where I could believe a group of intelligent pre-teens might not notice that the kid their teacher heaps praise on is severely autistic,ammeredington's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
miyu1339's review against another edition
3.0
This is an example of a frustrating book for me. On one side it was interesting and unusual in a good way, but on the other it leaves you with many unanswered question. Therefore it's a bit hard to rate it in the end, because despite of enjoying it, you are left with a list of questions and doubts as to what happened.
But maybe we need more books like that, to focus on trying to come up with your own answers, rather than have them served on the plate by the author.
But maybe we need more books like that, to focus on trying to come up with your own answers, rather than have them served on the plate by the author.