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solusipse's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Slavery, and Blood
Minor: Cursing, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Pandemic/Epidemic
seanml's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
How does someone gain an immense following, gain the powers of God, and be told they’re the main character without becoming even a little bit of an egomaniac? Easy, they don’t. And José Saramago thankfully realizes this. Despite being a skeptic’s look at the New Testament (Which I haven’t read, by the way), Saramago still treats most of what is written as if it had happened (Healing the sick, the perpetual virginity, directly speaking with God). The first half of the book follows Mary and Joseph and is immaculately quiet and reflective. The presence of a maybe-angel-maybe-not-an-angel is the source of a very unsettling feeling through the book’s first half. The Jesus-centric second half is interesting in that in the meetings with God, we learn that He is more or less the same wrathful, hypocritical, and egocentric God of the Torah. The tragedy is that everything is pre-ordained, and though Jesus realizes this, he can do nothing to change it. My Guy Yahweh saw the future with Morbius starring Jared Leto, and did nothing about it, smh. 7.5/10.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Stalking, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War