Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

The Book of Etta by Meg Elison

4 reviews

jessikalange's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I found myself just hurrying through the book.
I was angry when Etta refused to understand Flora. It lost me after that. And the end? They are just going to head to that cult and that's the end? So dumb. The first book was soooo good. This book is mid.
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shontellereads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

So once again I loved the way this was written and how deep into the psyche of the main character we went. However, this lacked the key aspect of the first book that I enjoyed- the "end of the world"ness / post pandemic setting. Instead it kind of just felt like a backward world with lots of cult vibes. What I did enjoy was the discussion around gender identity, it was really interesting and (in my not-own-voice opinion) well done. 
This was darker than the first book and I would really emphasise checking the TWs.
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horizonous's review against another edition

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The more I read the more unsure I am of why I’m even reading this. I don’t particularly enjoy it, I don’t like the characters and some things that happened in the last chapter are just 🙄 Some things just don't make any sense to me.
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bex_knighthunter's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

4.5

This is up there as one of the heaviest darkest books I've ever read but I also love it - definite max max fury road vibes.

Set a century or so after the first book, this follows a gender-queer (fluid?) raider travelling around other settlements which is a fascinating way to get to see the different ways civilisation has evolved after society fragmented, and in particular the way societies views of gender have changed. The characters were so unique and interesting and real with three named genderqueer/trans characters, cultures based around polyamory, diverse sexualities depicted, and race was not ignored in this future. The town of Nowhere also charmed me and I loved learning how it had developed since the unnamed midwife. The writing was also brilliant, easy-to-read, and evocative.

The plot was mostly meandering but to be honest I quite enjoyed that (I find the minutae of survival fascinating so this was always going to be a hit) as I felt the character development and world building were always there. There were some great plot hooks planted to keep me guessing what the ending would be - but when we got to that ending... wow... I'm not even sure what to think. It was shocking and tense, and the darkest parts were not drawn out any longer than needed to tell the story which I'm thankful for, but I'm not sure I liked where the plot went. I was expecting dark but I wasn't ready for that and nearly stopped reading with only 10 pages to go!

This is not a story I'll forget in a hurry and ultimately it is so different and yet well suited to my tastes that I have to love it.
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