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caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content and Pregnancy
lasamviela's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Excrement, Vomit, and Medical trauma
madeleinebay's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Grief, and Pregnancy
merle_bookdragon's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
The book is divided into 7 parts and it started out really well until around parts 5 and 6 where it took a bit of a downward spiral. I do not want to spoiler too much but I think was mostly bothered me that nothing was explained, not even at the very end. There is no explanation as to what the state of the world is to make living in it so horrible except for "there is a lot of smog" but that's nothing new. Additionally, between time jumps, especially one character changes their personality quite a bit, which could have been explained. Without any explanation, I started to instantly dislike them and kept wondering what the hell had happened at this time. I understand that keeping readers in the dark is a common tactic but without any resolve, in the end, it is simply unsatisfying. For example, as a second book for my MA, I read The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He. In this book, I was also very confused for a long time because a lot of information is withheld from the reader for a long time. But in the end, you still receive an explanation, which might not make you like the story or the characters more but at least you learn about a motive. That was really missing in The New Wilderness.
Also, this is really just personal preference but
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Blood, and Abandonment
Moderate: Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
maddiebusick's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
mcchonchie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death and Miscarriage
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Minor: Violence
katjoyphil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent
sarahs_shelf_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
There was one portion of the book were the passing got a little slow for me and I really wanted to know what was going to happen...but overall I think the pacing is done really well. It's medium to slow paced and the movement of seasons really dictates the pacing of the characters lives which I always find soothing (even though, as I said it is mostly a heartbreaking book). One thing I found super interesting is the use of maps in the story, I think that's something that has stuck with me the most after reading this book, and I hope to have discussions with people about it. And of course the mother-daughter relationship is at the forefront of this story. I don't have much to say about it except that it was amazingly well done and I marked so many passages about them.
Graphic: Death and Miscarriage
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
leekaufman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Miscarriage, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief
booknerdnative's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It's hard to write a review for this one without demonstrating the kinds of questions that this book asks, because I feel that it was entirely the point of the novel. I think that this book has a lot to offer for a lot of different readers. There is a clear plot and narrative direction. There is a wide cast of characters with sweeping story arcs. It's adventurous and challenging, but also emotional and contemplative. The narrative has a clean enough ending, with still many questions to be answered and ideas to reflect upon.
I loved this one for the same reasons I loved Station Eleven - for the questions it asked and the for the way it made me look at the world through a clearer lens.
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Miscarriage, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Violence and Police brutality