lleullawgyffes's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
henry_havelock's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a very interesting read. Part novel, part memoir, part magical realism/folklore.
minosh's review
5.0
This book is amazing. It truly is all of the things the description says all at once. To start with, the prose itself is absolutely gorgeous, evocative yet down to earth--Berrout doesn't stumble once in her voice. I'm so taken with how relentlessly up-to-date this novel is; I would submit this to that one putz who claimed it is impossible to write a novel in a world with cell phones and skype and netflix. More than that, the book engages with the cutting-edge of ideas about race, gender, sexuality, and other things, in an incredibly graceful way (there is even a section of notes at the end giving credit to those whose ideas are drawn upon). At no point does it feel gimmicky, instead it all seems like a natural part of the narrator's experience and thoughts.
This is a very intellectual novel in the sense that we spend much of the time inside the narrator's head, but at the same time it is very sensual. There is a beautiful sense of place, something that I always love in books. There's also this sense of mystery being an almost mundane part of life that I adore.
There's so much more to this book but I can't quite find words for it right now. All I can say is, this book deserves to be read by so many more people in so many different genres.
This is a very intellectual novel in the sense that we spend much of the time inside the narrator's head, but at the same time it is very sensual. There is a beautiful sense of place, something that I always love in books. There's also this sense of mystery being an almost mundane part of life that I adore.
There's so much more to this book but I can't quite find words for it right now. All I can say is, this book deserves to be read by so many more people in so many different genres.
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