Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Water Dancer

I'm rather conflicted on how to rate this one. I struggled a lot with getting through the first half of the book. The plot there felt kind of meandering and very slow, even as there were chunks of text that were very poetic. It very much felt like a heavy-handed telling rather than a showing, especially since it was being told in the first person by an older Hiram whose later experiences often colored the retellings of the earlier days. There were a lot of times that details were repeated multiple times, to the point where it felt like the author didn't trust us to remember them, or that readers couldn't be expected to draw out a symbol or a train of thought to its natural conclusion without the author explicitly walking us step by step to it. In particular, the way he kept emphasizing that he remembered everything got pretty old.
There were also a few narrative gaps that left me wondering if I'd accidentally skipped ahead, even though I hadn't.

That being said, I did very much enjoy the magical realism aspect of the book once it became fully fleshed out in the latter portion of the book. It would have been nice to have seen that more gradually and thoughtfully woven in throughout the story, as much of the story felt far removed from it. I've seen some reviewers suggest that the magical realism portion could have been removed entirely to make the story more cohesive, but I disagree as I found it to be the most compelling part of the novel.

Overall I'm very glad I stuck with this one. I do plan on reading more of Coates' nonfiction work, as his writing style does seem well-suited to that type of writing.

Content Warnings

rai's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

I loved the final event and where everything drew together but it just was a very dense novel for me. It's a serious subject matter and culturally I can understand why it's becoming a classic but it's also a hard read. I'm glad I finished it but I wouldn't do it again.

Content Warnings

cbaker's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

delaine21's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

2.5

This book was LOOOONNNGGGG and DRRRAAAWWNNN OUT! Goodness! Nice concept overall but the details in this book made it a hard read and the story went on FOREVER for no reason. I really wanted to love this adaptation of the fantasy spin on the Underground Railroad, but it fell short.

Content Warnings

liesbethvv's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

As usual I dove into this book head first, without knowing anything about the genre or the themes, just because the author and book come highly recommended.
I was completely surprised by the magical realism in this story and it took me a while to get used to it. Once I was on board with the concept of

conduction,

I was mesmerised by the rich language and strong characters Coates put to paper. Moving, propelling and highly imaginative, I enjoyed this ride out of my comfort zone.

Content Warnings

katieimre's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

Content Warnings

More...