jeskian's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? Yes
3.5
So many thoughts about this, having finished it not ten minutes ago. Begin stream of thought:
I really enjoyed the fact that this is two narratives. Listening to audiobook, it was sometimes tricky to tell which adult character was which. I also struggled to remember that the main characters Ruth and Nat were 17 - for some reason I just kept seeing them as preteens. Whether that was prose, dialogue, or performance, I can't tell. Regarding plot, if you love parallelism and echoes in narratives, this'll be for you.
That being said, I can't say I loved this due to the fact that a big portion of the middle section just really bummed me out!
Once the mysticism amped up toward the end, I got more wrapped up in it and more excited by it. That's what I wanted, the magical realism. I liked the setting of the decrepit cult camp. Calling a gun the weapon of cowards was a big thumbs up point. Also, realizing the nature of the story once it got to the end, and how it tied to the story Cora told at the beginning made me smile and appreciate the *construction* of this novel, if not so much its look.
So... good book. Well made. I'm sure it was really hard to do, and it's impressive! I'm impressed by it more than I enjoyed it. Parts I found distasteful, parts I deeply enjoyed, parts I enjoyed but am sure would hit so much harder if I had the ability to be pregnant. Soft recommend!
I really enjoyed the fact that this is two narratives. Listening to audiobook, it was sometimes tricky to tell which adult character was which. I also struggled to remember that the main characters Ruth and Nat were 17 - for some reason I just kept seeing them as preteens. Whether that was prose, dialogue, or performance, I can't tell. Regarding plot, if you love parallelism and echoes in narratives, this'll be for you.
That being said, I can't say I loved this due to the fact that a big portion of the middle section just really bummed me out!
Spoiler
Children having to choose which adult they marry to avoid abuse? Forced abortions? People being totally abandoned in wilderness? Random sexual encounters with zero chemistry or flirting? I don't love it!Once the mysticism amped up toward the end, I got more wrapped up in it and more excited by it. That's what I wanted, the magical realism. I liked the setting of the decrepit cult camp. Calling a gun the weapon of cowards was a big thumbs up point. Also, realizing the nature of the story once it got to the end, and how it tied to the story Cora told at the beginning made me smile and appreciate the *construction* of this novel, if not so much its look.
So... good book. Well made. I'm sure it was really hard to do, and it's impressive! I'm impressed by it more than I enjoyed it. Parts I found distasteful, parts I deeply enjoyed, parts I enjoyed but am sure would hit so much harder if I had the ability to be pregnant. Soft recommend!
robmingione's review against another edition
3.0
Easy read, good writing. Didn't leave me bowled over, but a good read.
luarentaylor's review against another edition
5.0
................... W o a h.
I was absolutely enchanted and haunted by this book. The people so urgent and instinctual, and the landscapes (both physical and metaphysical) so vast, so stark, so arresting. Ruth and Nat will haunt my favorites shelf forever.
I was absolutely enchanted and haunted by this book. The people so urgent and instinctual, and the landscapes (both physical and metaphysical) so vast, so stark, so arresting. Ruth and Nat will haunt my favorites shelf forever.
catie_winegar's review against another edition
5.0
Outstanding. This is the first book I've read in quite some time where I stopped to write down some of the lines. It's a book that I might have picked up at a different time and not gotten swept up in. The dual storylines were very well executed in that they built and maintained suspense without giving too much away. A thread of hopefulness and the strength of human connection wound its way through the darker parts and made for a poignant ending. And I loved the Adirondack shoutout to Seventh Lake, where I spent many a summer.
2shainz's review against another edition
5.0
Ah, what's there to say that hasn't already been said (and spoiled) in my video review with Julianne?
Nat and Ruth are seventeen, just a year shy of being unceremoniously kicked out of their foster home called Love of Christ! (yes, with the exclamation point). The good news? Nat can speak to the dead, and the business of getting people in touch with their late loved ones is booming.
Fast-forward about thirteen years, and Ruth's niece Cora is stuck at a dead-end job and in a dead-end relationship, and she just found out she's pregnant. Her long-lost and newly mute aunt Ruth shows up and quite literally helps her to walk out on all of it, taking only her baby along for the ride.
Much like Bats of the Republic, this book completely defies a quick summary. Much unlike Bats, the numerous elements—multiple séances, a mysterious cult, and a box full of money being just a few—work in tandem to create something bigger and more meaningful.
It took some time to settle into the story, but eventually I was getting lost in Samantha Hunt's sentences. She never quite gives you the full picture, and yet she says so much: about the family you're given and building your own, about motherhood, about the universe, about taking a long walk and maybe, just maybe, finding yourself as the end of it.
This book is confusing and surreal and absolutely glorious. Read it.
See this review and more at Shaina Reads!
Nat and Ruth are seventeen, just a year shy of being unceremoniously kicked out of their foster home called Love of Christ! (yes, with the exclamation point). The good news? Nat can speak to the dead, and the business of getting people in touch with their late loved ones is booming.
Fast-forward about thirteen years, and Ruth's niece Cora is stuck at a dead-end job and in a dead-end relationship, and she just found out she's pregnant. Her long-lost and newly mute aunt Ruth shows up and quite literally helps her to walk out on all of it, taking only her baby along for the ride.
Much like Bats of the Republic, this book completely defies a quick summary. Much unlike Bats, the numerous elements—multiple séances, a mysterious cult, and a box full of money being just a few—work in tandem to create something bigger and more meaningful.
"Before I was pregnant, I thought carrying a baby meant knowing a baby. That's not true. I don't know anything about this child. Pregnancy is a locked door in my stomach, all the weight of life and death and still no way to know it. The baby gives me a small kick, taking what's delicate—lung tissue, tiny see-through fingers, hair fine enough to spin webs—and hardens it into a tough thing, a thing that likes it rough. It'll grow and I will be the only one who remembers when it was unmarked and delicate as a moth." - pg. 219
It took some time to settle into the story, but eventually I was getting lost in Samantha Hunt's sentences. She never quite gives you the full picture, and yet she says so much: about the family you're given and building your own, about motherhood, about the universe, about taking a long walk and maybe, just maybe, finding yourself as the end of it.
This book is confusing and surreal and absolutely glorious. Read it.
See this review and more at Shaina Reads!
skrau's review against another edition
4.0
This is really a 3.5, because it was definitely a 4 up until that ending - which somehow manages to be totally unsurprising and yet make very little sense. Great use of upstate NY and the canal though, if not always flattering.
nathanrester's review against another edition
2.0
Sometimes a book just doesn't click the way you want it to. You can tell the author is trying for esoteric but landing on alienating, that the mysterious vibe that was intended just ended up coming off as obtuse instead. There's a fascinating set-up here, but it just doesn't follow through in a way that's compelling on a base level.
But the book's narrative through-line struggles to walk with purpose through the thematic current, and the novel's dyadic structure doesn't really pay off the way it was intended; the dueling storylines repeat rather than compliment, and the culmination doesn't justify the journey. If you're a gothic horror completionist, then you can probably justify picking this up. Otherwise, you might want to hold out on something more conventionally satisfying.
But the book's narrative through-line struggles to walk with purpose through the thematic current, and the novel's dyadic structure doesn't really pay off the way it was intended; the dueling storylines repeat rather than compliment, and the culmination doesn't justify the journey. If you're a gothic horror completionist, then you can probably justify picking this up. Otherwise, you might want to hold out on something more conventionally satisfying.
pwbalto's review against another edition
5.0
I need to read this book a second time right away. In fact, returning it to the library this afternoon I found myself rereading the third-to-last chapter IN MY CAR. WHILE DRIVING. Sorry.
But I can't even say WHY I need to re-read it, whether it's because everything becomes clear in the end or in fact nothing becomes clear, because that would spoil it for you. How about I just say it made me think of books by Cormac McCarthy or Nick Cave (but not the super pervy parts of Nick Cave) and if that sounds appealing to you then you should read it.
But I can't even say WHY I need to re-read it, whether it's because everything becomes clear in the end or in fact nothing becomes clear, because that would spoil it for you. How about I just say it made me think of books by Cormac McCarthy or Nick Cave (but not the super pervy parts of Nick Cave) and if that sounds appealing to you then you should read it.
_pickle_'s review against another edition
2.0
I found the two halves of this book uncomfortable partners despite the somewhat satisfying conclusion. Hunt has some wonderful expressive powers but something about the narrative arc is off for me.
mcerrin's review against another edition
4.0
It's pretty odd and you're not quite sure what's going on for most of the book but that's the beauty of it for me. Second half pushed it from 3 to 4 stars.