Reviews

Things Bright and Beautiful by Anbara Salam

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mazza57's review against another edition

3.0

I am not sure how to rate this book. It is definitely evocative of time and place and strangely enthralling in places. However, the time line is a mess there are chapters that have no relevance to the main story and exist in a time before Max and Bea come to the New Hebrides. It has an intermittent burn for me as the reader strangely thrilling, horrific and, indeed monotonous in different parts. Not my favourite book but i do think the author has promise for the future

thebooktrail88's review against another edition

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4.0

Visit the locations in the novel

It took me a while after I’d read this novel to realise what I thought about it. It fascinated and annoyed me at different times during my time on Advent Island, a fictional place thank goodness, where the book is set.

It was totally immersive and claustrophobic throughout though.Pastor Max and his wife Bea come here but it gets too much too soon for the Pastor and he descends into a hell of his own. Those trees get darker and more dense, the island even more remote and cut off from reality. Delirium is his only companion before too long.

This growing madness and spiral into hell on earth was sometimes difficult to read and when mention of the humming started, I felt myself getting as annoyed and frustrated as the characters. I swear I could feel those bugs creeping over me as I read.

I’ll stop there as you’ll want to go on that journey to Advent Island yourself as it will have various effects on you so take the bug spray and read this underneath a giant net.

Be aware though if anyone hums near you as you read…

radella_hardwick's review against another edition

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4.5

I don't like missionaries (or evangelists) – sticking your faith down other people's throats has never sat well with me, even when I was attending the sort of church that supported individual missionaries. And the bloke in this book epitomises the worst aspects.

Intensely unsettling book all about societal pressures to conform and how much more extreme that can appear in a society that isn't constrained by Western civility.

Content Warnings

sandytfrench's review against another edition

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3.5

Things Bright and Beautiful by Anbara Salam
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⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5 stars
My first read for the @literaturelassies
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When Bea Hanlon follows her preacher husband Max to a remote island in the Pacific, she soon sees that their mission will bring anything but salvation.
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I absolutely loved the writing. It was so atmospheric; you could feel the heat, you could feel the humidity. It was uncomfortable, claustrophobic, creepy and suffocating. The author really brought the island and its jungle to life, and turned them into characters in their own right.
I really enjoyed Bea's evolution through part of the story, from being the proverbial fish out of water to showing unexpected resilience and determination to make the best out of her situation on the island and I would have liked to read more of this.
However I had a real problem with the pacing of the story. It branched out into a secondary plot about a couple of migrant workers, which I thought added nothing to the story and turned into nothing.
I also felt that the spiral down towards the ending was rushed and jarring after such a slow build-up. I liked the ending but I wish its delivery had been more balanced compared to the rest of the book.
This is a debut novel and I would really like to read more from this author as I thought the writing was great.
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