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slaneyg's review
3.0
It was a really interesting concept for a book but every single character was so unlikable that it was hard to read at points. The ending is very dark, the book definitely needs to come with some trigger warnings.
denisestrickland's review
3.0
I wanted to like this. I actually liked the main character, but I don't believe in visions personally, so I had a hard time understanding Mildred's reality through any lens other than mental illness.
cassie5489's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
hopelessecstatic's review
4.0
A thought-provoking, fascinatingly horrific take on the character Cassandra of the Iliad, cursed to see the future but never be believed--transplanted to the Hanford Nuclear Facility as they worked on "the project."
loyaltoliterature's review
2.0
When you're reading a retelling of the myth of the prophetess of doom, perhaps one should except a tale of gloom. But by the time I was done with [TW] the rape, murder, self-mutilation, suicidal thoughts, and mental institution lockup, I felt like a bag of bricks was lying on my heart. I think the author did something clever (reframing the Cassandra story with the development of the atomic bomb) but this book was too much for me.
lumalasa's review
5.0
well done and engrossing. Hero was accessible and I cared about her. Compelling read about whistle-blowing and integrity.
revannamay's review
3.0
This book is ostensibly about the nuclear development site at Hanford, WA, which you can learn more about here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_Site.
"Established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project in Hanford, south-central Washington, the site was home to the B Reactor, the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world.[1] Plutonium manufactured at the site was used in the first nuclear bomb, tested at the Trinity site, and in Fat Man, the bomb detonated over Nagasaki, Japan."
This book is also ostensibly about Mildred Groves, a unique woman. Mildred has visions, which began when she was a child, and then she gets a job at the Hanford site and the visions get worse. She dreams of all the women, children, men, and animals that the nuclear bombs will obliterate. Also, the bleak landscape is not forgotten and is counted as a casualty of this war. The visions take their own weight and trajectory, and each of her friends become increasingly concerned about the visions as the project nears its completion, the bombs get dropped, and the war comes to an end.
Mildred suffers greatly in the story. Initially because of her family, then because of her visions, then because she is attacked and left for dead. The story unravels a bit at the end, as Mildred becomes consumed by the consequences of these actions, taken by her country, the workers at the Hanford Site, and the man who assaulted her.
The parallels of the Hanford Site to the Greek myths of Cassandra and the Trojan War (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra) are very well done, and this book's lyrical voice is well executed. At the end of the story, she is wrung out, without a great deal of hope.
The lament in this book that war is still a vehicle men use to distinguish themselves is so clear. There are honorable men and dishonorable men in the story. The whole novel is, to a lesser extent, about good people "just doing their jobs" who are participating in a great evil that they may or may not acknowledge.
Environmentalists have spent decades trying to mitigate the effects of nuclear waste on the land and in the water. So this book harkens back not only to World War II but to a hardly-distant past, maybe ten years ago.
What this book is really about, though, are these questions: what will it take to believe women? What are the consequences of not believing women? How can we stop being a part of an evil that will eventually destroy us?
"Established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project in Hanford, south-central Washington, the site was home to the B Reactor, the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world.[1] Plutonium manufactured at the site was used in the first nuclear bomb, tested at the Trinity site, and in Fat Man, the bomb detonated over Nagasaki, Japan."
This book is also ostensibly about Mildred Groves, a unique woman. Mildred has visions, which began when she was a child, and then she gets a job at the Hanford site and the visions get worse. She dreams of all the women, children, men, and animals that the nuclear bombs will obliterate. Also, the bleak landscape is not forgotten and is counted as a casualty of this war. The visions take their own weight and trajectory, and each of her friends become increasingly concerned about the visions as the project nears its completion, the bombs get dropped, and the war comes to an end.
Mildred suffers greatly in the story. Initially because of her family, then because of her visions, then because she is attacked and left for dead. The story unravels a bit at the end, as Mildred becomes consumed by the consequences of these actions, taken by her country, the workers at the Hanford Site, and the man who assaulted her.
The parallels of the Hanford Site to the Greek myths of Cassandra and the Trojan War (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra) are very well done, and this book's lyrical voice is well executed. At the end of the story, she is wrung out, without a great deal of hope.
The lament in this book that war is still a vehicle men use to distinguish themselves is so clear. There are honorable men and dishonorable men in the story. The whole novel is, to a lesser extent, about good people "just doing their jobs" who are participating in a great evil that they may or may not acknowledge.
Environmentalists have spent decades trying to mitigate the effects of nuclear waste on the land and in the water. So this book harkens back not only to World War II but to a hardly-distant past, maybe ten years ago.
What this book is really about, though, are these questions: what will it take to believe women? What are the consequences of not believing women? How can we stop being a part of an evil that will eventually destroy us?
valerie77's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and War
shellshellshell's review against another edition
5.0
lovely!! prettier and soft and distant. like reading through a window, all the details share before you and yet far away as well. shattering. powerful.