kirstyam's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
iamtaratorres's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
ktrain3900's review against another edition
3.0
A mostly rollicking read, although a little clunky in places, I think due to the author's ambition for the novel exceeding the writing. The male characters are somewhat flat, especially compared to the female characters, and it detracts from the overall story. Still, you could do a lot worse to select something engrossing to read by the pool.
energyrae's review against another edition
4.0
Calliope awakens after what she suspects is an earthquake, and everything that is supposed to be, isn't. She can't find her family, in fact, there aren't many people around at all with the exception of her neighbor's daughter Eunjoo. Eunjoo seems to know a lot for a 6-year-old, but Calliope spends a lot of time placating her rather than actually listening to her.
Then there's Mara, who is desperately looking for her girlfriend Trudy, who is Calliope's aunt. She's running into a lot of the same thing's Calliope is. The only difference is this is something that has happened to Mara before, several decades previous. Both women must fight to stay alive in an ever-changing world and find a way to return to their families.
So I didn't care much for Calliope. I understand that she's a scientist and that her beliefs are rooted in facts, but when you're faced with situation after situation of the unbelievable, there comes a point when you have to accept that your previous truths no longer apply. I also didn't much care for how Givhan felt the need to always point out race, "middle-aged white man" and "embraced the white girl", and on, it just wasn't needed, especially after we had already met these people.
When I take out the few things I didn't like, there is a lot to like in Trinity Sight. I especially loved Eunjoo and her ability to look beyond, she was wise beyond her years and made for an exceptional character. The book is steeped in Zuni folklore, and its story and ending are based around the belief that the lore is more than just that. It blends science and lore in a magical and fantastical tale, that once you're ready to believe, becomes believable. The writing was excellent and the story was well told.
Then there's Mara, who is desperately looking for her girlfriend Trudy, who is Calliope's aunt. She's running into a lot of the same thing's Calliope is. The only difference is this is something that has happened to Mara before, several decades previous. Both women must fight to stay alive in an ever-changing world and find a way to return to their families.
So I didn't care much for Calliope. I understand that she's a scientist and that her beliefs are rooted in facts, but when you're faced with situation after situation of the unbelievable, there comes a point when you have to accept that your previous truths no longer apply. I also didn't much care for how Givhan felt the need to always point out race, "middle-aged white man" and "embraced the white girl", and on, it just wasn't needed, especially after we had already met these people.
When I take out the few things I didn't like, there is a lot to like in Trinity Sight. I especially loved Eunjoo and her ability to look beyond, she was wise beyond her years and made for an exceptional character. The book is steeped in Zuni folklore, and its story and ending are based around the belief that the lore is more than just that. It blends science and lore in a magical and fantastical tale, that once you're ready to believe, becomes believable. The writing was excellent and the story was well told.
leftylauren's review against another edition
2.0
DNF at 42%. Pregnant Calliope finds herself in a world where almost everyone has disappeared but for some reason assumes everything will be okay if she just gets to this one location.
Characters and plot feel too forced. Dialogue doesn't always feel realistic. Things feel too perfectly "scheduled" and set up to feel organic and natural. Mystical "woo woo" explanations are given and expected to be accepted without actually making sense even in the world that the author has built.
Characters and plot feel too forced. Dialogue doesn't always feel realistic. Things feel too perfectly "scheduled" and set up to feel organic and natural. Mystical "woo woo" explanations are given and expected to be accepted without actually making sense even in the world that the author has built.
neridah's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I came here for regular apocalypse fiction, unprepared for the magical realism, but it pulls together well in the end.
The middle was a bit of a struggle, I wanted a bit more detail on the mythology we were working with earlier on to keep the story grounded.
Lots of great characters, we don't see enough heavily pregnant action heroes
The middle was a bit of a struggle, I wanted a bit more detail on the mythology we were working with earlier on to keep the story grounded.
Lots of great characters, we don't see enough heavily pregnant action heroes
aglassofchardonnay's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
While the descriptions of the book sound pretty cool, but the actual book didn't really stand up to the synopsis. Characters were flat and most of the plot events went completely unexplained. Although many elements were clearly based on some native ideology, nothing was explained to the uninitiated reader.
I read this book for my book club, otherwise I would not have finished.
I read this book for my book club, otherwise I would not have finished.
agentlesound's review against another edition
2.0
DNF at 57.6%
This book is interesting and I enjoyed the mythology components, but I could not finish it. I honestly think it was just the author's excessively descriptive writing style that threw me off and made it difficult for me to follow. More of a 1.5/5, so I just gave it 2 stars.
This book is interesting and I enjoyed the mythology components, but I could not finish it. I honestly think it was just the author's excessively descriptive writing style that threw me off and made it difficult for me to follow. More of a 1.5/5, so I just gave it 2 stars.
veraisin's review
4.0
Four stars for a haunting, memorable, and intelligent story. I truly believe this book deserves any praise it gets. It weaves themes of person vs nature, science vs religion, with current events all in an apocalyptic setting. I enjoyed how the reflecting atmosphere of this book is brought to life by strong characters. However, while this is a great book, I knocked off one star for a couple of reasons. One is that I do not personally enjoy magical realism. By the end of the book, I found Calliope's continued skepticism toward supernatural events a little annoying. As well, I felt that some of the action scenes would often be interrupted by flashbacks or stories from the characters making the scenes not as high stakes as I think they were meant to be. The action scenes often felt thrown into the novel because they had to be there to fit the genre, but rarely did they seem to contribute to the story in meaningful ways. This is evidenced by almost every action scene having the same enemy and the fight being extremely similar to the previous one. This book's strengths are in its lyrical prose, indigenous storytelling, and characters.