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culpeppper's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I loved following Zorrie on her life, through the joy and heartbreak and the everyday tragedies. In particular, Zorrie's observations about the natural world struck me. So often books that take place outdoors lack the observations that someone who spends a lot of time outdoors would make, but Hunt took great care to explain her relationship with it just as he would any other character in story. Besides Zorrie herself, the natural world is her oldest friend. They cry together, sharing moments of grief and release, often the only witness to Zorrie's most truthful moments.
This isn't a happy story, but it is hopeful. Hunt pulls on different threads of history to tell Zorrie's story and, while there are moments of light and dark, feels less concerned with any final destination beyond peace for her at the end of it all. As if to say that the every person is part of a larger narrative but the personal journey is what ultimately matters, that it's those private tragedies and miracles that matter most to the shape our lives end up forming.
This isn't a happy story, but it is hopeful. Hunt pulls on different threads of history to tell Zorrie's story and, while there are moments of light and dark, feels less concerned with any final destination beyond peace for her at the end of it all. As if to say that the every person is part of a larger narrative but the personal journey is what ultimately matters, that it's those private tragedies and miracles that matter most to the shape our lives end up forming.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Cancer, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death and Sexual harassment
autumnleafgirl's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Read for book club
This book is odd to me. It's a dreamy pastoral, nearly a fairytale version of the midcentury Midwest. The titular Zorrie is a likeable character, but one who experiences very little in terms of development over what's supposed to be 60+ years of narrative, apart from what I felt was a bafflingly bad decision towards the end of the book. Being only 160ish pages, nothing had a stunning amount of detail, though there was a nice sensory exploration thrown in any time fruit was mentioned.
Overall, the writing was pleasant and poetic, and the short length flew by. I don't regret reading it, but I probably won't think too much about it again.
This book is odd to me. It's a dreamy pastoral, nearly a fairytale version of the midcentury Midwest. The titular Zorrie is a likeable character, but one who experiences very little in terms of development over what's supposed to be 60+ years of narrative, apart from what I felt was a bafflingly bad decision towards the end of the book. Being only 160ish pages, nothing had a stunning amount of detail, though there was a nice sensory exploration thrown in any time fruit was mentioned.
Overall, the writing was pleasant and poetic, and the short length flew by. I don't regret reading it, but I probably won't think too much about it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death, Infertility, Dementia, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death and Body shaming