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miller8d's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Emily St. John Mandel is the only author I’ve ever read as an adult whose writing is effortlessly legible— I don’t have to drag myself through the continuation of the logic, the story, the names and details. She is an incredible world-builder and crafts her books in a way that kindly takes all pressure off the reader to painstakingly translate the story as they go, and she does it without losing the substance nor the sophisticated chaos of the story. She includes unnecessary yet enriching details everywhere so that you never quite catch on to the endings (unlike so many stories that make me think “Oh, well, that must be foreshadowing something”). I had a complicated feeling of disappointment at the ending of the story: I was pulled to finish this book in two days because I was so excited to learn the explanation for the anomaly, and when I turned the final page, I said “Oh, come on” out loud because I did not feel like I got one at all in the moment. I found the twist exciting and sweet and logical but emotionally frustrating at first. But since I completed the book twenty minutes ago, I’ve realized I’m not actually disappointed because that is actually the most natural and truthful ending there ever could have been, and it rings true to the entire story, to the nature of time and space and boring explanations for exciting anomalies. It shines light on the entire hero’s journey and disarms us with a lonely sense of naked responsibility over the choices we make and especially over the universally lackluster inevitability of the logical consequences of the choices we make. I also really love how Mandel softly infused a strong clarity of anti-colonization and anti-cop sanity throughout the actions and beliefs of the lovable characters— refreshing to read a sci-fi/fictional/apocalyptic piece that doesn’t bury the lead of what evils are obviously leading us toward the darkness (colonization and cops, etc.), and refreshing to read any fictional book that pursues a leftist narrative through world-building and plot points, instead of just veering recklessly into harmful tokenization, superimposed racial dynamics written by a white author, and so on. I also just realized I liked the red herring of Vincent falling off into the sea— at the time, I was 100% sure she’d been teleported by the anomaly and that we must meet her later on. Fun to think that perhaps she did teleport somehow but that we’ll never know because Gaspery never knows. I loved this book.
Note: I pictured Gaspery as Jacob Wysocki from College Humor.
Note: I pictured Gaspery as Jacob Wysocki from College Humor.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, and Alcohol
I’m quite a sensitive person and even I’d say that despite the content warnings for this book, it is not an upsetting read (at least for me). The mentions of upsetting topics are justified and unsurprising in the context of the book, and very rarely is any upsetting detail given for the sake of indulgent displeasure. The bits that did upset me wereclemrain's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
4.5
Mandel is always such a pleasure to read. I deeply appreciate her storytelling.
It took me a while to get into this book. I’m not sure what it was but I think it was the pacing. It’s nailed a bit in the beginning but once the book picks up it’s hard to put down.
The characters in Sea of Tranquility are small and—in turn—real. I deeply feel for all of them. The hurt I feel for these characters isn’t easy to describe without spoiling the book and rambling for paragraphs. But Mandel has a talent for writing real people living their real lives. And without it, the ending on the books wouldn’t land as hard. This book is a simulation of sorts. And all it’s hurt and joy makes it real. Which creates this complete feeling when you’re done reading. It’s not a novel idea to say that the world being a simulation doesn’t matter, what does is that it feels like. However, Mandel presents it beautifully.
I love the writing style of this book. I wish this were longer. I want to know more about all of these characters. I have read about some of them in Glass Hotel and Station Eleven, and I hope as I read more of Mandel’s work I’ll run into the other characters as well. Especially Edwin. He’s such charming character. Back to the writing though, I love a past future and present and Mandel really kicks that idea up a notch in this novel. So fun to follow the narrative.
The dialogues are real. They feel like human interaction and it’s easy to get invested in them. The literary cadence is effective most times. the repetition and anxiety of Olive wanting to return home is contagious. And the pang of delivery through a nonchalant conversation that she never made it home is insanely effective. Not to mention that it really shows Gaspery’s character development. If someone is gonna drown they’re gonna drown, to I couldn’t just let her die. It’s good. And the repetition of “this is real” and then the halt of “I’m convincing myself it is”. Also, good. They’re effective but not necessarily unique.
The ending caught me by surprise. I was expecting Gaspery’s ending to be the jail sentence Olive found. A nonchalance for a nonchalance. But him being the anomaly and the discrete way of delivering it did catch me by surprise. I keep going back on forth on if it was good to add in Gaspbery’s perspective of interviewing himself. Maybe it fit best to just leave the story at him recognizing his face after the surgery and picking up the violin. However, that would be too cliche. It’s already inching towards the line by having Gaspbery be the anomaly. (Maybe I’m having over reaching cringe from Doctor Who’s time child arc). It’s just kind of flat. I’m also left wondering if it’s proof of a simulation or just the science of a paradox and time travel. The book would’ve been five stars if not just for this.
It’s not easy to write time travel. I don’t care much about the science. I only care about a good timeline and something that isn’t corny. Just good writing, science can be bad. It’s fiction afterall. Madel’s time travel sections are very entertaining.
I really wish this book were longer. I know the plot was centred around the shared experience of all the characters and we did get a good glimpse into the characters lives but I just want more.
Great book, it made me think and added new perspectives into my life.
It took me a while to get into this book. I’m not sure what it was but I think it was the pacing. It’s nailed a bit in the beginning but once the book picks up it’s hard to put down.
The characters in Sea of Tranquility are small and—in turn—real. I deeply feel for all of them. The hurt I feel for these characters isn’t easy to describe without spoiling the book and rambling for paragraphs. But Mandel has a talent for writing real people living their real lives. And without it, the ending on the books wouldn’t land as hard.
I love the writing style of this book. I wish this were longer. I want to know more about all of these characters. I have read about some of them in Glass Hotel and Station Eleven, and I hope as I read more of Mandel’s work I’ll run into the other characters as well. Especially Edwin. He’s such charming character. Back to the writing though, I love a past future and present and Mandel really kicks that idea up a notch in this novel. So fun to follow the narrative.
The dialogues are real. They feel like human interaction and it’s easy to get invested in them. The literary cadence is effective most times.
The ending caught me by surprise.
It’s not easy to write time travel. I don’t care much about the science. I only care about a good timeline and something that isn’t corny. Just good writing, science can be bad. It’s fiction afterall. Madel’s time travel sections are very entertaining.
I really wish this book were longer. I know the plot was centred around the shared experience of all the characters and we did get a good glimpse into the characters lives but I just want more.
Great book, it made me think and added new perspectives into my life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
itsheyfay's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
This felt like a more speculative and hopeful version of 12 Monkeys. Some characters were stiff (but maybe that was due to the audiobook), and some plot points were confusing, but it was a quick read all things considered.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Racism, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Colonisation, and War
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Child death, Forced institutionalization, and Car accident
starrysteph's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I'm a little torn on this one. I enjoy stories about time travel – and I enjoy stories about time travel with lyrical, dream-like writing and complex questions. But some of the actual content fell flat.
We cross huge spans of time in this novel, but the writing style stays the same. I wanted more differentiation between the voices of characters in 1912 and 2020 and far into the future. I also felt that there was a lack of creativity or perhaps "realism" when we go far into the future. Why are things EXACTLY the same as they are in 2020? Yes, people live on the moon, but there isn't any nuance here.
I also felt some frustration at the recklessness and thoughtlessness of Gaspery's decisions. It's hard to explain without spoilers, but the choices he made and the shifting of timelines felt too simplistic and didn't make sense. And in general, I didn't find myself making deep emotional connections to any of the characters. (And there was some content around Olive as a writer of pandemic stories that felt like a clear self-insert and was a little silly.)
Overall, I enjoyed the concept. I enjoyed the weaving together of the stories (though it became a little cliche by the end). I enjoyed the writing style. But once I zoomed in and thought a bit more critically about the material, I found myself disappointed.
CW: chronic illness, confinement, death, colonisation, murder, gun violence, suicide, war, alcohol, pandemic, sexism
We cross huge spans of time in this novel, but the writing style stays the same. I wanted more differentiation between the voices of characters in 1912 and 2020 and far into the future. I also felt that there was a lack of creativity or perhaps "realism" when we go far into the future. Why are things EXACTLY the same as they are in 2020? Yes, people live on the moon, but there isn't any nuance here.
I also felt some frustration at the recklessness and thoughtlessness of Gaspery's decisions. It's hard to explain without spoilers, but the choices he made and the shifting of timelines felt too simplistic and didn't make sense. And in general, I didn't find myself making deep emotional connections to any of the characters. (And there was some content around Olive as a writer of pandemic stories that felt like a clear self-insert and was a little silly.)
Overall, I enjoyed the concept. I enjoyed the weaving together of the stories (though it became a little cliche by the end). I enjoyed the writing style. But once I zoomed in and thought a bit more critically about the material, I found myself disappointed.
CW: chronic illness, confinement, death, colonisation, murder, gun violence, suicide, war, alcohol, pandemic, sexism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Gun violence, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Colonisation
emhunsbaker's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation
Minor: Child death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Alcohol, and Colonisation