alisonburnis's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Artichoke Tales is a multigenerational story about land, war, and grappling with histories and love stories. The North and South have been at war for decades, and this is the tale of how a family’s interaction with the war has torn them apart, brought them together, and given them complicated relationships across the lines. This is a sweetly drawn book, and a very poignant look at war and belief, in a fairy tale world.
livrosqueimados's review against another edition
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
3.75
I picked this book because of the topics of inter-generational family history and war, the same topics in one of my favorite books (100 years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez). Even though it was sometimes hard to follow, it didn't dismotivate me at all from finishing and even loving the book - specially in the part where we learn about what provoked the war between the north and the south, i feel like the whole paint is for the story to feel arbitrary.
Anyways, if you are going into this book for the same reason as me, it's definitely worth the read.
"Winter comes dark and early up here. I am far from the people i love. It's Simpler to love them from far away. And always, the stories remain."
Anyways, if you are going into this book for the same reason as me, it's definitely worth the read.
Spoiler
"Winter comes dark and early up here. I am far from the people i love. It's Simpler to love them from far away. And always, the stories remain."
bluenicorn's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this. The art was cute but not overly so; the story was interesting and I am always a sucker for tales that span generations; and I didn't feel like the author tried too hard to make this into some kind of a far-reaching allegory. Simple and sweet. Well-done, even if the story didn't end how I wanted it to.
zepysgirl's review against another edition
Gave it two chapters before giving up. Art was ugly and story was boring.
fernandie's review against another edition
Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.
crystabrittany's review against another edition
2.0
Artichoke Tales spans many generations and tells many stories of this world and these people. I had trouble figuring out who was who and where they all fit in, though. It took me longer than I wanted to get a sense of how the characters were related, what their stories were, and how it all fit together in the larger story.
crowyhead's review against another edition
2.0
I had difficulty really getting into this story. Parts of it were enjoyable, but I had a really hard time differentiating the different characters and understanding their relationships to each other. I also, frankly, didn't quite understand what was meant to be taken from the end, or even what exactly happened. Parts of this were really quite nicely done, but it didn't hold together for me overall.
sirah's review against another edition
1.0
I want my 2 hours back. I'm just so mad at this book. It feels like the author is trying to make a point about relationships or war or trust or time passing or something, but it just never quite comes through. Instead I got a clear bit of sex and disease that didn't seem to have any point in the story whatsoever, but will still be loitering about in the back of my brain when I least need them. After all the delighted reviews on the back cover, I really wanted to give this a fair shot, but now I've read it and there's just no way for me to get back those 2 hours I spent reading this. Probably my least favorite book I've read this year.
mreadsbooksnfics's review against another edition
2.0
I was bored and confused the whole time. There was no real story and nothing happened. I waited for the realization to happen but nope. The art is great... there's just no story.