Reviews

The Absence of Sparrows by Kurt Kirchmeier

lazygal's review against another edition

3.0

When a really dark cloud covers your town and suddenly some people are turned to a glassy stone... and later shatter... what would you do? How would you protect your family or yourself? How obsessed would you be with listening to the radio, and would you follow along with some bizarre plan to solve this global problem? That's the tension Ben deals with when his summer plans are upended by the glassification plague. There were several plot lines that weren't wrapped up as well as they could have been given the strength of the first half of the book, hence only 3 stars.

ARC provided by publisher.

patslibrary's review

adventurous emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

i really don't know what to feel??? the buildup was great in the first half but as i was nearing the end of the book, i was almost desperate for the climax. when it came, it didn't feel like the climax so i was left feeling unsatisfied. i get the charm of leaving things ambiguous but i still have so many questions

especially concerning the "Voice" and the sparrows that arrived right at the moment of "Shattering"

. it felt like so many plot points were introduced but not actually delved on so the story doesn't feel cohesive, overall. ben's pov was really emotionally resonant though; i think i just went through five stages of grief with him.

jestrudel's review against another edition

5.0

This book was on my TBR pile for a few months but it wasn’t available through the library. When it finally popped up as available on Overdrive, we were now in the midst of a pandemic. I hesitated before borrowing the book. Did I really need to read a book about a fictional pandemic in the midst of a real one?

I went for it, and I am so glad I did. The pandemic in the book is dissimilar to the one we’re experiencing now, so it didn’t feel too on the nose, but I could appreciate much better what the characters were feeling and experiencing. The author tackles the emotion in the book with sincerity without any of the hysterics, and the characters, particularly the child ones, are distinct and realistic in their portrayals.

This book is solid from beginning to end and I gobbled it up in less than 24 hours (I am normally a very slow reader).

SPOILER (sort of?): The only thing I didn’t like is the opening paragraph, because the narrator reveals that he survives by speaking as his older self, but I suppose in heart-wrenching times, when you’re holding a heart-wrenching read, it’s good to know there’s hope for the protagonist.

ashleybhaller's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-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

2.0

cleverfoxwithcoffee's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

corncobwebs's review against another edition

We always think of birds as being such small and breakable things, all soft feathers and no weight at all, wings of little more substance than toothpicks and parchment paper, and yet when we humans are balled up under blankets in front of the fireplace, they’re out there in the harsh world enduring it all, and not only that, but they’re singing.

iamthez's review against another edition

4.0

Sometimes, a slice of life in the middle of the apocalypse is just what you need. Too often, the protagonist is the world’s saviour, the special one who sees exactly what all the adults were missing.

This is not that story. Here, we get a glimpse of an average teen, struggling to make sense with what is going on while dealing with very real situations. I really enjoyed this story.

squirethegreat's review against another edition

3.0

Starting with the pros, the concept was well executed in the second half the of the book. In some chapters, you really got a feel of how depressing the whole plague would be if it were to happen irl. The characters in this book felt like actually real people with them constantly doing both the good and bad.

Now for the reason to the 3 star. I felt that the author could have cut the whole “Messam” plot because it didn’t add much to the overall plot even after it ended. The ending felt like it was rushed in a way to try and give our main character a somewhat happy ending. It mainly has to do with the mc has just moved on and forgiven his family for somewhat killing his dad.

Considering all this, I would only recommend this book to anyone wanting some new original idea from the book world.

iamthez's review against another edition

4.0

Sometimes, a slice of life in the middle of the apocalypse is just what you need. Too often, the protagonist is the world’s saviour, the special one who sees exactly what all the adults were missing.

This is not that story. Here, we get a glimpse of an average teen, struggling to make sense with what is going on while dealing with very real situations. I really enjoyed this story.

cosbrarian's review against another edition

3.0

I liked the originality of this bizarre glass-plague and the bird metaphors were great, but it didn't really come together for me. I would have liked more of a resolution on the cause and the effects of the plague.