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jennikreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, War, Misogyny, Animal death, Murder, Death of parent, and Gun violence
kirstym25's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Colonisation, and Murder
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-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
5.0
The Colony is a fantastic read. The more I read the more impressed I became. What starts off as a seemingly simple story about an arrogant English artist spending time on a small sparsely populated Irish island turns out to actually be a multi-faceted critique of colonialism. All the different strands of the novel - the family saga, the master-apprentice artist storyline, the conflicts between different characters, the linguistic study, and more were all cleverly woven around the core theme of colonialism. I was impressed by how many different facets of the author managed to include, most intrinsically. The interactions between the islanders and the visitors are essentially a microcosm of colonialism.
All of which makes this book sound worthy - and possibly dull. Worthy it is; dull it is not. The story is engaging and eminently readable - quite funny at times, the writing lyrical and poetic, the atmosphere often haunting, the characters memorable and in some cases, James especially, loveable. The exploration of the theme is thought-provoking, yet nuanced rather than dogmatic. All in all I highly recommend this novel and will definitely be adding Audrey Magee to the list of authors whose back lists I want to explore.
All of which makes this book sound worthy - and possibly dull. Worthy it is; dull it is not. The story is engaging and eminently readable - quite funny at times, the writing lyrical and poetic, the atmosphere often haunting, the characters memorable and in some cases, James especially, loveable. The exploration of the theme is thought-provoking, yet nuanced rather than dogmatic. All in all I highly recommend this novel and will definitely be adding Audrey Magee to the list of authors whose back lists I want to explore.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review
challenging
emotional
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Grief, Death, and Death of parent
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