Reviews with content warning for Rape - All Over Creation

I’m a molecular biologist writing about a 2003 book from 2024 that attempts to tackle the issue of GMO food crops. I’d say it was super preachy and did not provide a path to viable alternatives besides “organic!”. I found the preachiness tiresome and while I thought the Seeds of Resistance were satire at first, by the end it seemed more like Geek was a tool Ozeki used to express her opinions.

All that took me out of what was a pretty decent and enthalling story. I read the second 75% of the book over twelve sleepless nighttime hours because I can’t get enough of Ozeki’s prose.

That said, now that I finished, some of the characters really disappointed me. There were pockets that I thought were really good where they expressed these dark parts of themselves that was compelling, but god, the story could have done with less of the unexamined self righteousness. As someone who lives in hippie country, I see a lot of similarities to the evangelical right in real life.

Maybe its my 20 years of perspective and graduate degree but the sections on biology were really bad. The worst for me was but the implication that pesticide exposure through food is dangerous. We don’t have evidence of that. These chemicals are still very dangerous for those who handle them directly, though.

I have my own opinions about plant genetic modification but this is a book review, not a soapbox so I’ll step down.

I think Cass is kinda the main character of this story because she is the one who drives the story the most. Yumi is a tragic anti-hero who is a slave to her past and as soon as I let go of seeing her as the protagonist the book made more sense.

While I don’t think we needed so much of Elliot’s constant boner, the berkeley hippie to crusty consultant pipeline is all too common and I felt like that was a somewhat interesting story. The cultural appropriation from duncan was also something that rang painfully true from certain people I’ve had the misfortune of knowing.

I think Yumi going back to elliot was really painful to read because it also reflected behavior I’ve seen in friends. The urge to re-assert one’s power against a rapist by initiating the act. I hated reading it but that’s cause it’s so real.

Class’s complacency was also really painful.

I didn’t love that the Geek and Y were portrayed as older, smart, and responsible while Charmey and Lilith were portrayed as sexy teenagers. Gross! This felt very internalized patriarchy rather than using a portrayal of the patriarchy to make a comment about it.

Overall, I loved the story of Yumi, Cass, Will, Momoko, Lloyd and the kids.
Elliot and Duncan were nasty villains.

I didn’t like the Seeds very much and I think a few small teaks could have saved them. Aging up Charmey and Lilith and giving them some technical skills like Y and Geek, for starters. Leaning into the comedy of activism and either using their unity as a comment on conformity or showing some disagreement would be neat.

I’d recommend a tale for the time being, that’s probably my favorite book, so I did come in with very high expectations.

Content Warnings

spcandybars's review against another edition

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emotional 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

2.0

This book is about 200 pages too long and 3 paces too slow. Most of the time I was reading, I was just wishing it could end. If you’re coming from other Ruth Ozeki works and you’re a big fan of those, one thing that may disappoint you about this book is the lack of whimsy. Ozeki handles very real situations and characters in a blunt way but cuts the banality by introducing a slight view of something fantastic regardless of being helpful or detrimental to the characters. She also does this in some of the most beautiful writing I can recall in recent years. This book, while also being written beautifully, lacks the charm of the fantastic and instead cuts the banality of cruel realities with the banality of a ridiculous reality that doesn’t seem to have a place despite being directly tied to the main plot.

One source of irritation I had with this book came from a cast of characters that I either hated or just felt entirely neutral towards. Another was having a differing stance on GMO technology than the one pushed in the book. Another was overly convenient plotting that felt like it served no one and heavily distracted from the family dynamic we were focused on. It made elements of the book feel cheesy and unnecessary and the characters introduced to carry out these sections weren’t fleshed out enough or impactful on the primary character enough to justify their presence. The A and B plot just don’t suite each other and I felt like both would be stronger stories on their own.

Content Warnings

alisonburnis's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad 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? Yes

4.25

Twenty-five years after she ran away, Yumi Fuller is called back to her hometown of Liberty Falls by her best friend Cass, to be with her dying parents. Accompanied by her three children and all of the baggage of estrangement, Yumi struggles with being back in the house, caring for her parents, caring for her children.

Next door, Cass has been taking care of Yumi’s parents for years, and her husband Will has acquired their land. Cass, more than anything, wants a baby but after years of trying, a bout of cancer, and nothing but pain to show for it, it’s another layer of resentment between her and Yumi and their complex friendship.

Enter the Seeds of Resistance. A group of environmental activists, they make their way to Liberty Falls to meet Yumi’s parents, who’ve been running a seed company, with values the Seeds believe align with their goals. A ragtag, unconventional story of family and friendship blossoms from their arrival: the challenges of loving people who make difficult decisions and hurt you, who you don’t always agree with, and the ways we build our communities.

I really enjoyed this, though it wasn’t my absolute favourite Ozeki. It’s very challenging - the characters make a lot of frustrating decisions to the very end. But Ozeki is kind to them, and in turn invites us to be easy on everyone in the story.

Content Warnings

clumsden's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective 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

3.5

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