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nialiversuch's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Miscarriage, Blood, Grief, and Pregnancy
kristinallard's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Miscarriage
Minor: Animal cruelty, Grief, and Pregnancy
gw7's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I'm giving this 2.5 stars in the sense that it feels halfway to a perfect book, not that it was (necessarily) bad.
I do seem to disagree with some reviewers on some points though. I don't think it was that well written. It made sense as a debut and I think if Polzin were to write more books, this is a great starting point. But, along with a style that was fairly regularly difficult to understand (in need of a good edit grammatically, in my taste), it was written in a way that practically every line could have been the first line of a book? If not every line (although basically) certainly every first line of every chapter. And broadly speaking, I feel like this was a huge contributor to the book feeling a bit lackluster? Looking back over it, there was no character development, not a clear timeline (so while the whole book felt wallowing, aside from being informed that the book took place over a year or two?) no real sense of story, even though we were given very significant moments from her life that would in any other book... denote a story? Because it's fine if there's no plot in a book, and it's fine if a book just explores themes, but I don't feel like the themes were explored well enough for it to be a book solely where themes were explored and... there was a plot... but it just felt to be delivered as a post-it-notes still on the wall, planning stage mind map, due to the writing style.
There were some lovely moments and lovely lines- the depiction of grief (in the brief lines were it is described and not in the overall writing) was beautiful and brilliant, but I wanted more.
The information about the chickens was wrong quite often. Or maybe while not wrong, written in a way that the author seemed to want to get a writable point out of a chicken's behaviour and so wrote that behaviour as if they did it for a particular reason or that they always do it a specific way or innumerable other iterations. While I'm a big chicken fan and knew that going into this book it wasn't going to be nearly enough about chickens for my liking, what I actually got, contrary to my expectations, was a book that was quite often writing about chickens, but from the mc's neurotic point of view.
The characters. I did not like. Apart from the side characters that I didn't see enough of to hate. Percy, again, seems to be the prime person example of being used in the same literary way as the chickens. I get that the author is making a satire of 'this is how the world works' but it wasn't done well enough to be that over the top. I don't know why the mc liked her husband. I don't know what the main character's personality was other than clingy to the point of detriment needing therapy later in life mother. Again, there could have been a point to this and an exploration of this through the plot of the book... but I don't feel there was.
The sections about cleaning also made no sense and could be lumped in with the random lines (mainly at the start) where it felt explicitly as though the author had gone searching the internet for the perfect happenstance in history, geography, etc. just to include a line about it in her book as though it's perfectly common knowledge, a perfectly normal (though novel cause isn't she so clever writing these big concepts in the book) thing to slide into casual conversation, though thankfully these instances did seem to drop off as the book went on, giving the feeling that she was getting more comfortable with writing. I'm glad they did drop off though cause it was starting to get a bit pretentious and not like other girls-y.
It was a fine book to read and while I had these issues, I didn't particularly find anything missing while I was reading it, I only had in mind the things wrong or that could be improved. But getting to the end, I sorely missed the plot. There was such great potential. It feels kind of like there was nothing there. Again, very promising, though. Truly excellent lines about grief, and I'm assuming the reason the author wanted to write the book. And I'm thankful she did write it. And another promising thing is that it seemed to get less unbearable as it went on- the first 50 ish pages expecting a dnf and wouldn't have dreamed of it from 150 pages to the end. Perhaps an unfortunate anecdote to end, though, is that I would have been exponentially more frustrated with the book had it not had the gorgeous chickens illustrated on the cover.
I do seem to disagree with some reviewers on some points though. I don't think it was that well written. It made sense as a debut and I think if Polzin were to write more books, this is a great starting point. But, along with a style that was fairly regularly difficult to understand (in need of a good edit grammatically, in my taste), it was written in a way that practically every line could have been the first line of a book? If not every line (although basically) certainly every first line of every chapter. And broadly speaking, I feel like this was a huge contributor to the book feeling a bit lackluster? Looking back over it, there was no character development, not a clear timeline (so while the whole book felt wallowing, aside from being informed that the book took place over a year or two?) no real sense of story, even though we were given very significant moments from her life that would in any other book... denote a story? Because it's fine if there's no plot in a book, and it's fine if a book just explores themes, but I don't feel like the themes were explored well enough for it to be a book solely where themes were explored and... there was a plot... but it just felt to be delivered as a post-it-notes still on the wall, planning stage mind map, due to the writing style.
There were some lovely moments and lovely lines- the depiction of grief (in the brief lines were it is described and not in the overall writing) was beautiful and brilliant, but I wanted more.
The information about the chickens was wrong quite often. Or maybe while not wrong, written in a way that the author seemed to want to get a writable point out of a chicken's behaviour and so wrote that behaviour as if they did it for a particular reason or that they always do it a specific way or innumerable other iterations. While I'm a big chicken fan and knew that going into this book it wasn't going to be nearly enough about chickens for my liking, what I actually got, contrary to my expectations, was a book that was quite often writing about chickens, but from the mc's neurotic point of view.
The characters. I did not like. Apart from the side characters that I didn't see enough of to hate. Percy, again, seems to be the prime person example of being used in the same literary way as the chickens. I get that the author is making a satire of 'this is how the world works' but it wasn't done well enough to be that over the top. I don't know why the mc liked her husband. I don't know what the main character's personality was other than clingy to the point of detriment needing therapy later in life mother. Again, there could have been a point to this and an exploration of this through the plot of the book... but I don't feel there was.
The sections about cleaning also made no sense and could be lumped in with the random lines (mainly at the start) where it felt explicitly as though the author had gone searching the internet for the perfect happenstance in history, geography, etc. just to include a line about it in her book as though it's perfectly common knowledge, a perfectly normal (though novel cause isn't she so clever writing these big concepts in the book) thing to slide into casual conversation, though thankfully these instances did seem to drop off as the book went on, giving the feeling that she was getting more comfortable with writing. I'm glad they did drop off though cause it was starting to get a bit pretentious and not like other girls-y.
It was a fine book to read and while I had these issues, I didn't particularly find anything missing while I was reading it, I only had in mind the things wrong or that could be improved. But getting to the end, I sorely missed the plot. There was such great potential. It feels kind of like there was nothing there. Again, very promising, though. Truly excellent lines about grief, and I'm assuming the reason the author wanted to write the book. And I'm thankful she did write it. And another promising thing is that it seemed to get less unbearable as it went on- the first 50 ish pages expecting a dnf and wouldn't have dreamed of it from 150 pages to the end. Perhaps an unfortunate anecdote to end, though, is that I would have been exponentially more frustrated with the book had it not had the gorgeous chickens illustrated on the cover.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
Moderate: Animal death and Grief
emmagreenwood's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Grief
bookishcori's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Grief
Moderate: Miscarriage
atamano's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- 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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Infertility, and Grief
Minor: Miscarriage
deedireads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
I really enjoyed Brood. It’s human and quietly empathetic, with emotional layers and astute attention to detail. I am going to have to read it again someday.
For you if: You like short stories, or novels that do interesting things from a craft perspective.
FULL REVIEW:
TL;DR REVIEW:
I really enjoyed Brood. It’s human and quietly empathetic, with emotional layers and astute attention to detail. I am going to have to read it again someday.
For you if: You like short stories, or novels that do interesting things from a craft perspective.
FULL REVIEW:
“Life is the ongoing effort to live. Some people make it look easy. Chickens do not.”
Thank you to Doubleday for sending a review copy of this book my way. I really enjoyed it, and I have been thinking about it even more than I’d expected to ever since I finished.
Brood is told in short narrative vignettes by a narrator who forges an unexpected connection to the chickens she and her husband have come to own. She is grappling with loss and change, and amidst extreme winter and predators and even a tornado, she finds herself more and more passionate about helping them fight against the everyday struggle to survive. I don’t want to say much more than that, because I didn’t know much going in and liked it that way, but I found this book to be surprisingly emotional, empathetic, and astute. (Also I know so much about chickens now lol.)
This is not a book you read for plot, but if you like characters, and short stories and other forms that do interesting things for a craft perspective, I think you will like this one. It’s quiet and short, but it’s got so many delicious layers. And prose is excellent, with observations that hit you right in the gut and heart.
There were parts that I felt like slipped through my fingers, which always happens for me with novels told in vignettes like this. I think it was because I haven’t gone through the experiences the narrator was healing from (check the content warnings), but it didn’t keep me from enjoying the novel overall (far from it). That said, I think this could be really impactful for someone who has gone through those things, if it wasn’t too much to read about. I fully expect to read this again someday and get even more out of it than I did the first time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Grief
Moderate: Animal death and Infertility
biblio_jordyn's review against another edition
funny
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
“It is the current fashion to experience all aspects of life to the point of breaking.”
Brood follows a nameless main character as she deals with grief, life, and keeping her brood of 4 chickens alive.
What could have been better?
This book didn’t have a strong emotional impact on me. By the description I thought there would times my heart would ache or a section that would break me, but it didn’t happen, it felt one note at times. But, as always, that just may have been a ME thing.
What I did like?
I really enjoyed the writing, it was beautiful and the tone was calming. I learned a lot about chickens and I actually got VERY invested in their lives. Going along with that, I feel like I grew to know and connect with lot of characters in a short amount of time and their relationships to each other, which is hard to do: the nameless main character, her husband, her mother, her best friend, and an assortment of neighbors. The book at times can feel disconnected, which mimics how people feel in the grief process. The book makes you think about things you might not have before and tells the story of grief by having the main character find purpose living in the here and now and the people and things around her (though it has a couple past perspectives for context) and you really are in her head.
I would read this book if you’re looking for a calming read that is beautifully written, has some talk about grief, character driven, and if you’re curious about why I keep talking about chicken!
Thank you @doubledaybooks for #gifting me this copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Grief
reading_ladies_blog's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Grief
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