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horsley123's review against another edition
4.0
Max and Bea are missionaries on an island - things aren't quite as they expected. There is already a missionary on site and the natives have some firm ideas of their own. Bea spends a lot of time picking rat droppings out of the rice and trying to coax edible plants to grow in her garden.
As the newly weds find their place on the island they reach a happy peace in their relationship, this equilibrium is destroyed when Max goes down with an illness.
The tension in the last part of the book builds with the tropical heat and communal madness. All in all it reinforces my innate suspicion of organised religion, I won't be going off on a mission soon.
A good read!
As the newly weds find their place on the island they reach a happy peace in their relationship, this equilibrium is destroyed when Max goes down with an illness.
The tension in the last part of the book builds with the tropical heat and communal madness. All in all it reinforces my innate suspicion of organised religion, I won't be going off on a mission soon.
A good read!
mholleronsilk's review against another edition
2.0
A story set in an unspecified time (but most likely the late half of the twentieth century), “All things Bright and Beautiful” tells the tale of missionary Maxis and his wife Bea. They have moved to an isolated island in order to spread “the word of god” and find the “light”. The story explains Island life and Maxis’ slow decline into madness after he kills Marietta, an old ex-missionary on the island. Initially a clear-minded and logical man, Maxis spirals into chaos after a terrible fever and starts to behave like the shaken son the island who attempt to use and trap the women using their “dark prayers” and exorcisms.
The story seems to have a good plot at its roots, allowing for a healthy balance between an intriguing storyline and references to the real life adventures of those who really were missionaries in the late twentieth century. However, as a reader I personally lost interest in the other plot after the fourth or fifth chapter, due to the slow moving storyline and the overload of factual information. The story hasn’t been edited in places where the plot becomes bland and boring. Essentially there isn’t enough of an extrapolated plot and this leads the story to become stagnant, only picking up towards the end of the novel.
Bea as a character is strong and independent, with many layers to her character that create an interesting personality that can be analysed and picked apart. Other characters in the plot seems unnecessary, adding very little to the plot, such as the Vietnamese slaves that work for a framer on another island. Whilst these characters do help to explain more about the world that has been created, they do not need as much expansion as they are given. The plot should be focused on where the characters are.
The story picks up a lot more towards the second half of the book, but there is a lot of filler that I do not think is needed in the story that has been written. I feel that this novel should either be cut down to a novella, focusing on the characters of Bea, Maxis, Santra and Aru; or it should be extrapolated more using the same characters mentioned so that there is more substance. I feel that this book simply isn’t ready yet, there is still much more that can be improved and I feel as though the author should develop her writing further in order to improve the flow and quality of her writing. This is why I’m giving it 2/5 stars.
The story seems to have a good plot at its roots, allowing for a healthy balance between an intriguing storyline and references to the real life adventures of those who really were missionaries in the late twentieth century. However, as a reader I personally lost interest in the other plot after the fourth or fifth chapter, due to the slow moving storyline and the overload of factual information. The story hasn’t been edited in places where the plot becomes bland and boring. Essentially there isn’t enough of an extrapolated plot and this leads the story to become stagnant, only picking up towards the end of the novel.
Bea as a character is strong and independent, with many layers to her character that create an interesting personality that can be analysed and picked apart. Other characters in the plot seems unnecessary, adding very little to the plot, such as the Vietnamese slaves that work for a framer on another island. Whilst these characters do help to explain more about the world that has been created, they do not need as much expansion as they are given. The plot should be focused on where the characters are.
The story picks up a lot more towards the second half of the book, but there is a lot of filler that I do not think is needed in the story that has been written. I feel that this novel should either be cut down to a novella, focusing on the characters of Bea, Maxis, Santra and Aru; or it should be extrapolated more using the same characters mentioned so that there is more substance. I feel that this book simply isn’t ready yet, there is still much more that can be improved and I feel as though the author should develop her writing further in order to improve the flow and quality of her writing. This is why I’m giving it 2/5 stars.
baileybb's review against another edition
1.0
DNF. Got half way through. And still couldn’t get into it.
sabrinaslivingliterature's review against another edition
3.0
I'm really sad to be giving this book 3 stars, it started really well, I loved Bea as a character and her adjustments to island life as a Missionary's wife were entertaining and I was always happy to see her succeed in something. The majority of this book is beautifully written atmospheric and intriguing, I enjoyed the questioning of the Missionary's place on the island. Unfortunately the last chapter just left me confused and I couldn't figure out what had even happened! This rushed ending undid all the build up in the rest of the book and left me wishing that there was more of an answer about what happened after the ending. If the book is implying what I thought it might be this also completely undermines the questioning of the place of the missionary that seemed Important to the plot.
bookaholicblurbs's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
fionab_16's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-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
4.5
hillersg7's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wow - such a dark, atmospheric story. Powerful themes of religion and spirits and being in a place that is so 'other'. Loved its intensity and a great ending. (though would like to know what happens next!)
caitrz's review against another edition
5.0
This book wasn’t how I thought it was going to be (in a really good way). Thoroughly enjoyed it from the very start. Loved Bea a lot and felt a lot of sympathy for it throughout the book.
jubaju's review against another edition
2.0
Extremely slow start that ruined the book for me. I couldn’t wait for it to end. It only got interesting at around 75%, at which point I’d already lost interest.
The writing was slightly clinical, with no flourishes, sometimes stilted. It didn’t hold me.
I didn’t care much for the characters, though Bea of course grew on me towards the end. This was a book that explored its characters and human reactions, but I didn’t connect to any of it.
Short book, but it felt very long, and some parts were too boring and should have been edited out.
The writing was slightly clinical, with no flourishes, sometimes stilted. It didn’t hold me.
I didn’t care much for the characters, though Bea of course grew on me towards the end. This was a book that explored its characters and human reactions, but I didn’t connect to any of it.
Short book, but it felt very long, and some parts were too boring and should have been edited out.