joshualeggs's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
kat_caledonia's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
deservingporcupine's review against another edition
1.0
This book certainly was trying. It had something to say about all the things: Immigration, climate change, slavery, gender, disability, sex, child labor, and on and on. Many strange people, much strange story telling, a lot of preachy prose.
At first I thought I was really going to enjoy this book — there were time travel and talking turtles and lovely, poetic descriptions that hinted at characters connecting through time! But at the half way point everything was still very serious and all the stories were very depressing and every page seemed to be very heavy handedly trying to make a very important point. (Honestly many of these points were not as profound or provocative as they were meant to be — even the ones that involved S&M.)
At this point I was hungry for characters I could care about or a story that would get me looking forward to opening the book back up. It just never delivered. By the end, every time a weird thing would happen I was just sighing and rolling my eyes — every weird thing just felt so contrived and weird for weirdness sake. And there were so many little history and science lessons that felt … not out of place, exactly but didactic, maybe? (Insufferable, absolutely.) I mean, one of the novel’s messages is explained in an actual lesson given to children at the end. And at some point you need some humor, or joy or something.
I kept waiting for something interesting to come together or for me to have to actually figure something out. Instead the characters kept telling me what I should think about (worms complaining about everyone loves the flowers but doesn’t appreciate all the work worms do is one example — yes really). I was entirely disappointed by this book.
*and the more I think about it, the more I’m reflecting on the way that some characters were used to tell about the history she wanted to portray with no real agency or subtlety of their own. David Chen, in particular, got one little section all about the Transcontinental RR and the rest of the story was people staring at him or reacting to him or falling in love with him. The very important Indigenous characters Joseph and John Joseph didn’t get the depth the story about them warranted, either. Felt icky while I was reading it — here is a white woman using stories that aren’t hers to make a point, but not really bothering to dive in to the complexities.
At first I thought I was really going to enjoy this book — there were time travel and talking turtles and lovely, poetic descriptions that hinted at characters connecting through time! But at the half way point everything was still very serious and all the stories were very depressing and every page seemed to be very heavy handedly trying to make a very important point. (Honestly many of these points were not as profound or provocative as they were meant to be — even the ones that involved S&M.)
At this point I was hungry for characters I could care about or a story that would get me looking forward to opening the book back up. It just never delivered. By the end, every time a weird thing would happen I was just sighing and rolling my eyes — every weird thing just felt so contrived and weird for weirdness sake. And there were so many little history and science lessons that felt … not out of place, exactly but didactic, maybe? (Insufferable, absolutely.) I mean, one of the novel’s messages is explained in an actual lesson given to children at the end. And at some point you need some humor, or joy or something.
I kept waiting for something interesting to come together or for me to have to actually figure something out. Instead the characters kept telling me what I should think about (worms complaining about everyone loves the flowers but doesn’t appreciate all the work worms do is one example — yes really). I was entirely disappointed by this book.
*and the more I think about it, the more I’m reflecting on the way that some characters were used to tell about the history she wanted to portray with no real agency or subtlety of their own. David Chen, in particular, got one little section all about the Transcontinental RR and the rest of the story was people staring at him or reacting to him or falling in love with him. The very important Indigenous characters Joseph and John Joseph didn’t get the depth the story about them warranted, either. Felt icky while I was reading it — here is a white woman using stories that aren’t hers to make a point, but not really bothering to dive in to the complexities.
angelena98's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting story. There seems to be a strange moral locked in here about women having a responsibility to prevent men from becoming monsters through having sex with them. Enjoyed the book overall, but I do think it tried and failed to turn gender on its head. Female characters bound to motherhood and driven by a sense of duty towards children and whatnot.
ottiedottie's review against another edition
4.0
This book, though it has rich and varied themes, the enormous scope of its universe, this unknowable time travel/magic system, leaning heavily into whimsy and fable-like prose, a cast of intriguing characters... it suffers from
1) a lack of cohesion or some type of exposition to make it clearer- to actually GROUND these events and not make it feel like thoughtless dreams in sequence
2) unearths a lot of interesting stuff for eg about anthropocentrism and the untold story of the masons who built the statue of liberty, immigration etc but just leaves them hanging in the air?
But I did enjoy it and appreciated its dreaminess. I had a similar feeling I think as back when I read The Drowning Girl by Caitlin Kiernan except that was way darker. Plus abstract stories like these are mostly meant to be Experienced. The same way I would watch Disney's Fantasia for example. Experiencing unnamable feelings that you cant even shape with thought much less write with words.
1) a lack of cohesion or some type of exposition to make it clearer- to actually GROUND these events and not make it feel like thoughtless dreams in sequence
2) unearths a lot of interesting stuff for eg about anthropocentrism and the untold story of the masons who built the statue of liberty, immigration etc but just leaves them hanging in the air?
But I did enjoy it and appreciated its dreaminess. I had a similar feeling I think as back when I read The Drowning Girl by Caitlin Kiernan except that was way darker. Plus abstract stories like these are mostly meant to be Experienced. The same way I would watch Disney's Fantasia for example. Experiencing unnamable feelings that you cant even shape with thought much less write with words.
abbylw's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-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? N/A
3.75
abroadwell's review against another edition
2.0
I have read too many post-apocalyptic climate disaster novels recently and I was not in the mood for another.
This is not a real critique of the writing, but the theme seems to be very, very common in fiction of the last few years. [See for example [book:Harrow|56376963]].
This is not a real critique of the writing, but the theme seems to be very, very common in fiction of the last few years. [See for example [book:Harrow|56376963]].
nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
(Aug. 15) returning to try and wrap my head around this one and still desperately need to discuss it with someone — hmu!!!