sjj169's review
2.0
I feel like it took forever to finish this book. It's completely written in beautiful language but I felt like that very language just tried too hard. I think [b:Cold Mountain|10920|Cold Mountain|Charles Frazier|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1442416348s/10920.jpg|1006369] and some of [a:Cormac McCarthy|4178|Cormac McCarthy|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1414695980p2/4178.jpg] books are written in that same style so it may be that these types of books just aren't my genre. I'm including several passages from the book in this review to give an idea of the way it is written. I'm sure it will sell thousands and millions of copies because it completely bored me.
This one starts with a very young (around fifteen year old) Callum. He is riding with a group of soldiers after coming to America as a orphan, he had taken up being a horse thief to make his way and fell in with this group.
Then he finds Ava........
Ava has a nightmare time with that same group of soldiers and Callum leaves them to "save" Ava. He ends up with the two of them being hunted across the "fallen land." They are crossing the south during the last points of the Civil War, trying to get to one of the coastal cities where Callum remembers some relatives being.
Some smexy times happen:
Callum snorted through his runny nose. Then he turned his head and pinched the bridge of his nose and blew a thick tail of snot onto the trail.
"Careful your brains don't go missing," said Ava.
I'm poking fun there but there was never a connection with these two characters for me. There should have been because the book is mostly about them, but it's mostly just...
Get on the horse.
Ride the horse.
Be cold and hungry.
Get back on the horse.
It's cold and we are hungry.
There are a lot of these types of passages:
He listened closely for the rumor of hooves on the wind from the north. Listening so hard for danger seemed only to invite the hearing of it. There was the faintest thunder he may or may not have heard. He first thought it was coming downwind from the way they'd come, but the wind was swirling in the meadow and it could have come from the direction they were heading. Or it could be nothing.
So the book never connected for me. I did finish it because I was hoping for something to happen that would save the entire book. But nope. Boring times abound.
Callum slipped off the horse and walked to the edge of the road and sat. He stared, disbelieving, for a long time. He could hardly breathe, like the fire had sucked the air from the night. This was beyond hell, beyond any biblical image of torment. This was real, and it was happening as if it happened just for them.
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review
Sandra's review here gives the book five stars, that goes to show that two readers can look at a book differently and that's fine. Not everyone loves the same things.
This one starts with a very young (around fifteen year old) Callum. He is riding with a group of soldiers after coming to America as a orphan, he had taken up being a horse thief to make his way and fell in with this group.
Then he finds Ava........
Ava has a nightmare time with that same group of soldiers and Callum leaves them to "save" Ava. He ends up with the two of them being hunted across the "fallen land." They are crossing the south during the last points of the Civil War, trying to get to one of the coastal cities where Callum remembers some relatives being.
Some smexy times happen:
Callum snorted through his runny nose. Then he turned his head and pinched the bridge of his nose and blew a thick tail of snot onto the trail.
"Careful your brains don't go missing," said Ava.
I'm poking fun there but there was never a connection with these two characters for me. There should have been because the book is mostly about them, but it's mostly just...
Get on the horse.
Ride the horse.
Be cold and hungry.
Get back on the horse.
It's cold and we are hungry.
There are a lot of these types of passages:
He listened closely for the rumor of hooves on the wind from the north. Listening so hard for danger seemed only to invite the hearing of it. There was the faintest thunder he may or may not have heard. He first thought it was coming downwind from the way they'd come, but the wind was swirling in the meadow and it could have come from the direction they were heading. Or it could be nothing.
So the book never connected for me. I did finish it because I was hoping for something to happen that would save the entire book. But nope. Boring times abound.
Callum slipped off the horse and walked to the edge of the road and sat. He stared, disbelieving, for a long time. He could hardly breathe, like the fire had sucked the air from the night. This was beyond hell, beyond any biblical image of torment. This was real, and it was happening as if it happened just for them.
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review
Sandra's review here gives the book five stars, that goes to show that two readers can look at a book differently and that's fine. Not everyone loves the same things.
sueann's review
5.0
This is one of those rare neglect-your-housework-leave-me-alone-I'm-reading! kinds of books. One character describes the time they are living through (the U.S. Civil War) as "an evil moment in the world." It certainly is graphically violent, and thereby authentic. This is tempered by beautiful descriptions of nature, the gentle teasing between the two main characters and the occasional kindness of strangers. Action-packed and spell-binding, you wonder how or if the main characters will make it out alive. (I'm not telling.) I was both horrified and captivated by the story and the language. This one is well worth your time.
shellihuntley4's review
3.0
Not awful, but certainly not Cold Mountain or a Cormac McCarty book, despite the blurbs.
claralouise's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.0
great book but just felt kind of… pretentious and purposefully vague at some points. i think a more solid time line & more down-to-earth language would have been more enjoyable.
mgbell0712's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
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
3.0
chidunn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
kyleofbooks's review
3.0
I can't seem to find a reason why it took me so long to finish this one, but... whatever. It's done now.
At times unrelenting in how bleak and dire Callum and Ava's situation is, Brown manages to find so much beauty in this story through (mostly) gorgeous passages where the language transcends the darkest of circumstances. That's where I must give the author credit, because this novel has some truly lovely writing; it was damn-near poetic at times. I was pretty taken with the main characters, as well. They were strong, reliable, resourceful, and (for the most part) good-natured. They were willing to go to whatever lengths they had to to survive, while still maintaining their humanity.
Where this book failed for me, however, is with its redundancy in the plight of our main trio (yes, i count the hrose amon the MC's). There's a lot of 'Stop. Sleep. Wake. Ride', over and over. It got a wee bit boring. If it weren't for the action and the pursuit of their enemies and other vagrants breaking up the tedium, I don't know if I'd have ever finished this one. Also, the "romance" was not altogether believable. It was, without question, 'love-at-first-sight' (in a way), which threw me off. In an instant, Callum is wholly infatuated (entranced?) with Ava? Yeah, okay. I get it, though. She's a great character... Callum, too! I really enjoyed them both. But his initial feelings for her/willing to anything for her (as chivalrous as his intentions were) did not seem convincing to me.
Lastly, in the case of this book, and seeing as it was the harshest of times in which they lived, I could look past the countless moments of violence against animals. I really have a pet peeve when it comes to explicit animal cruelty/violence/death in literature (unless it's absolutely necessary). I know it sounds dumb, but I don't like it. So, in the very last few pages, was it really freakin' necessary to.
So, yeah, screw you for that, Mr. Brown.
In the end, Fallen Land is a well-written and enjoyable read worthy of a one-time ride.
At times unrelenting in how bleak and dire Callum and Ava's situation is, Brown manages to find so much beauty in this story through (mostly) gorgeous passages where the language transcends the darkest of circumstances. That's where I must give the author credit, because this novel has some truly lovely writing; it was damn-near poetic at times. I was pretty taken with the main characters, as well. They were strong, reliable, resourceful, and (for the most part) good-natured. They were willing to go to whatever lengths they had to to survive, while still maintaining their humanity.
Where this book failed for me, however, is with its redundancy in the plight of our main trio (yes, i count the hrose amon the MC's). There's a lot of 'Stop. Sleep. Wake. Ride', over and over. It got a wee bit boring. If it weren't for the action and the pursuit of their enemies and other vagrants breaking up the tedium, I don't know if I'd have ever finished this one. Also, the "romance" was not altogether believable. It was, without question, 'love-at-first-sight' (in a way), which threw me off. In an instant, Callum is wholly infatuated (entranced?) with Ava? Yeah, okay. I get it, though. She's a great character... Callum, too! I really enjoyed them both. But his initial feelings for her/willing to anything for her (as chivalrous as his intentions were) did not seem convincing to me.
Lastly, in the case of this book, and seeing as it was the harshest of times in which they lived, I could look past the countless moments of violence against animals. I really have a pet peeve when it comes to explicit animal cruelty/violence/death in literature (unless it's absolutely necessary). I know it sounds dumb, but I don't like it. So, in the very last few pages, was it really freakin' necessary to
Spoiler
kill off Reiver? I mean, the horse in itself was part of the main trio of characters. And why in Hell kill the horse when there are only a handful of pages left? It was completely unnecessary, especially seeing as how Callum was so close to where he was headed... I knew going into this novel, though, that this was going to happen. Every book in the history of the written word that involves an animal has the animal die at some point. I was just hoping this one would've been different.So, yeah, screw you for that, Mr. Brown.
In the end, Fallen Land is a well-written and enjoyable read worthy of a one-time ride.
lauralovestoread's review
3.0
Fallen Land was one of the books in 2016 that I had to get my hands on, based on the hype of it being one of the best "to-read" books of the year. I loved the historical aspects of reading a book based on the aftermath of the Civil War through the southern states.
Callum, a young horse thief who has banded with a gang of rowdy men, all trying to survive the after effects of the war. Stealing horses, killing just to make it in the world. He meets Ava during one of these raids and they join together on the run, trying to make a place in this new fallen land.
I wish that there had been more details of Ava and Callum instead of the other many details of the scenery on each page, and was surprised I didn't even realize what color Ava's hair was until towards the end of the book. I felt like this book had such potential to be GREAT, but was just good.
Callum, a young horse thief who has banded with a gang of rowdy men, all trying to survive the after effects of the war. Stealing horses, killing just to make it in the world. He meets Ava during one of these raids and they join together on the run, trying to make a place in this new fallen land.
I wish that there had been more details of Ava and Callum instead of the other many details of the scenery on each page, and was surprised I didn't even realize what color Ava's hair was until towards the end of the book. I felt like this book had such potential to be GREAT, but was just good.
mrbadger63's review
3.0
Beautifully written, but mostly plods along aimlessly until it reaches the predictable and convenient turns of its clumsy narrative. Of course it's hard to read this and not consciously compare it to Cold Mountain which it often tries to emulate, but in doing so puts itself in a horribly pale light.