nanikeeva's review against another edition
2.0
the tone is enjoyable, but the content is far from engaging
wdanger's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
4.25
I liked this book. It contains a lot of themes I’ve struggled with (generational trauma, suicidal ideation, shitty parents, trauma bonded sisters) so despite having little in common with the lead characters I easily related.
Surprised not more reviews mentioned the whole
Surprised not more reviews mentioned the whole
Spoiler
incest thing. I mean, yikes 👀always_need_more_books's review against another edition
3.0
This novel is described as a suicide note written by 3 sisters who think they are cursed and are destined to commit suicide. The sisters are descended from the man who invented fertiliser which also led to the poison gas that was used in the First World War and also in the concentration camps of World War 2. Several members of the family have committed suicide through the generations and the sisters tell us their stories dating back to their great, great grandparents. There is a handy family tree in the front for reference. Some of the characters are based on real people. I only gave this 3 stars as although it was interesting enough when I was reading it, I wasn't drawn to pick it up at every opportunity. The last third was more readable in my opinion. (I've just read some of the quotes on the cover and several describe it as funny - I don't think this is true...maybe mildly amusing at a push!)
salot3's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
em_harring's review against another edition
4.0
(Per FTC guidelines: I received this book for free from the publisher. I'm not being paid for my review, and everything I say is 100% honest.)
A Reunion of Ghosts is a story about the past; it's a story about pain, and despair, and longing. It's a story concerning family--about the ways in which the first generation's sins can carry into the third or fourth generation's lives, punishing them.
A Reunion of Ghosts revolves around three sisters, Lady, Vee, and Delph Alter, and their suicide pact. Suicide, we're told, runs in the family. In the beginning, we're given a family chart that includes the ways past family members have killed themselves. Suicide and its many consequences carry the novel. It's not a happy story. I wouldn't say it's entirely a depressing, disheartening story, either. The sisters certainly suffer from some sort of depression or mental illness, but they're also charming. They're witty and clever. They're easy to like.
I'm drawn to novels that are about family dynamics and generational relationships. I think they're fascinating. This novel didn't disappoint in this regard. I liked getting to know the past Alter family members, and I thought the family history was woven well into the main narrative of the sisters. The characters weren't two-dimensional; they had complexities.
I also enjoyed the way the story was written. I thought the use of the collective 'we' for POV was great and worked really well for the type of story it was. And Mitchell has a great way of describing scenes and atmospheres.
There really wasn't anything that I didn't like in this novel. I thought everything worked well together, and I enjoyed the main story. I thought it was clever of the author to have the sisters decide to withhold information, and then tell us why it was withheld. There were a couple of moments when I was like "I wonder what happened to this character" and then the sisters would explain that they couldn't write of him/her for a specific reason. It was well done.
I thought the end was a bit too...feel good? The voice didn't match the rest of the novel, but I was glad that we got some end answers.
Overall, it's a rich, familial novel with well-rounded characters and a well-rounded history. In a completely aesthetic way, I really like the title and the cover (which is so gorgeous).
I'd recommend the novel to anyone who enjoys generational novels, but I can also see how the novel might be triggering to some, so be careful going into it if descriptions/talk of suicide makes you uncomfortable.
A Reunion of Ghosts is a story about the past; it's a story about pain, and despair, and longing. It's a story concerning family--about the ways in which the first generation's sins can carry into the third or fourth generation's lives, punishing them.
A Reunion of Ghosts revolves around three sisters, Lady, Vee, and Delph Alter, and their suicide pact. Suicide, we're told, runs in the family. In the beginning, we're given a family chart that includes the ways past family members have killed themselves. Suicide and its many consequences carry the novel. It's not a happy story. I wouldn't say it's entirely a depressing, disheartening story, either. The sisters certainly suffer from some sort of depression or mental illness, but they're also charming. They're witty and clever. They're easy to like.
I'm drawn to novels that are about family dynamics and generational relationships. I think they're fascinating. This novel didn't disappoint in this regard. I liked getting to know the past Alter family members, and I thought the family history was woven well into the main narrative of the sisters. The characters weren't two-dimensional; they had complexities.
I also enjoyed the way the story was written. I thought the use of the collective 'we' for POV was great and worked really well for the type of story it was. And Mitchell has a great way of describing scenes and atmospheres.
There really wasn't anything that I didn't like in this novel. I thought everything worked well together, and I enjoyed the main story. I thought it was clever of the author to have the sisters decide to withhold information, and then tell us why it was withheld. There were a couple of moments when I was like "I wonder what happened to this character" and then the sisters would explain that they couldn't write of him/her for a specific reason. It was well done.
I thought the end was a bit too...feel good? The voice didn't match the rest of the novel, but I was glad that we got some end answers.
Overall, it's a rich, familial novel with well-rounded characters and a well-rounded history. In a completely aesthetic way, I really like the title and the cover (which is so gorgeous).
I'd recommend the novel to anyone who enjoys generational novels, but I can also see how the novel might be triggering to some, so be careful going into it if descriptions/talk of suicide makes you uncomfortable.
we_are_all_mad_here26's review against another edition
4.0
I think the thing with this book is, you will either like it, or you won't - and you will know it within the first 50 pages. There've been plenty of books that I've read where I didn't know that I hated (or loved) it until much closer to the end. Not the case with this one. I liked it from the beginning.
Three sisters decide to commit suicide, and write a joint suicide note - and they keep referring to it as a note, even though it's close to 400 pages long. It covers their lives, their ancestors' lives, and the curse they believed they've inherited due to certain actions of said ancestors. The sisters are funny even in the midst of the kind of depression that leads to suicide notes, and that allowed the book to be something other than depressing. I'm not sure what, but, something.
I am not one for tales of doom and gloom, so really, I'm not even sure how I ended up reading this book. I did not find many of the other reviews (and I mean the good reviews as well as the bad) to be very encouraging. And yet, I totally and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yay.
Three sisters decide to commit suicide, and write a joint suicide note - and they keep referring to it as a note, even though it's close to 400 pages long. It covers their lives, their ancestors' lives, and the curse they believed they've inherited due to certain actions of said ancestors. The sisters are funny even in the midst of the kind of depression that leads to suicide notes, and that allowed the book to be something other than depressing. I'm not sure what, but, something.
I am not one for tales of doom and gloom, so really, I'm not even sure how I ended up reading this book. I did not find many of the other reviews (and I mean the good reviews as well as the bad) to be very encouraging. And yet, I totally and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yay.
lazygal's review against another edition
3.0
How often do you read a book written in the first person plural? The conceit here is that this is the suicide note of the three Alter sisters, so their individual voices are muted into one general "we" tone. Does it work? Perhaps 80% of the time, which isn't bad when you think about it. There were times that it felt as though it would have been ok to hear from a sister on her own, particularly when discussing their personal lives.
Because the sisters want us to truly understand everything about their lives and their history, the plot(?) drags a bit in places. There's also a lot about how important the curse is in their lives ("the sins of the father...") and yet we spend more time on their daily lives than on that part. More about how it affected the previous generations, less about the chemistry and current day, and this would have been tighter.
Also, the ending didn't quite work. There should have been a different sounding voice then (no spoilers as to why) and it just sounded the same as before.
ARC provided by publisher.
Because the sisters want us to truly understand everything about their lives and their history, the plot(?) drags a bit in places. There's also a lot about how important the curse is in their lives ("the sins of the father...") and yet we spend more time on their daily lives than on that part. More about how it affected the previous generations, less about the chemistry and current day, and this would have been tighter.
Also, the ending didn't quite work. There should have been a different sounding voice then (no spoilers as to why) and it just sounded the same as before.
ARC provided by publisher.