harperphillips96's review
3.0
First of all, as far as an audiobook experience goes, Migrations deserves 4.5 stars- I loved the narrator and honestly, she was the majority of the reason I continued listening. So no faults there.
At the end of the day, though, I found myself more frustrated than moved. For a book about climate change and a mass extinction event, there was surprisingly little thought paid to the topic. For example, we find out at around the 75% mark that there’s almost no forest left on earth, and besides insects, farm animals, and pets, almost no animal life either. And yet we managed to get 75% of the way through the book without really noticing because there’s so little description of what would have to be a vastly altered world. Huge lack of detail.
And then the constant message is “humans are so bad and greedy and selfish, we destroyed the world!” Which is a take I am so exhausted of because it’s so completely without nuance. WHICH humans destroyed the world? Because it sure as hell wasn’t all of us. A tiny percentage of us are to blame for the mass pollution and destruction. Which humans specifically were the perpetrators and which were the victims? Who experiences the effects first? I feel like the author was trying *so* hard not to make this a political novel that it became completely toothless.
And then there were ten million references to Franny’s Nature and Fate and Heritage and how she behaves the way she does because that’s how her whole family is and no one has any choice in how they behave. Yes, she turns that around a *tiny* bit at the VERY end, but it was 99% of the novel and I was so sick of hearing about it.
The ending did not work for me. You cannot tell me things wrap up this neatly for such a messy world and cast of characters. I simply do not buy it.
(Also, on that note and as a petty aside, humans in this book appear to be able to survive days of freezing and submersion in frigid Arctic and Antarctic waters and all kinds of physical trauma and just carry on feeling very cold. Nobody would just freaking die, lol.)
There was so much potential but I feel it was wasted for lack of nuance and detail.
At the end of the day, though, I found myself more frustrated than moved. For a book about climate change and a mass extinction event, there was surprisingly little thought paid to the topic. For example, we find out at around the 75% mark that there’s almost no forest left on earth, and besides insects, farm animals, and pets, almost no animal life either. And yet we managed to get 75% of the way through the book without really noticing because there’s so little description of what would have to be a vastly altered world. Huge lack of detail.
And then the constant message is “humans are so bad and greedy and selfish, we destroyed the world!” Which is a take I am so exhausted of because it’s so completely without nuance. WHICH humans destroyed the world? Because it sure as hell wasn’t all of us. A tiny percentage of us are to blame for the mass pollution and destruction. Which humans specifically were the perpetrators and which were the victims? Who experiences the effects first? I feel like the author was trying *so* hard not to make this a political novel that it became completely toothless.
And then there were ten million references to Franny’s Nature and Fate and Heritage and how she behaves the way she does because that’s how her whole family is and no one has any choice in how they behave. Yes, she turns that around a *tiny* bit at the VERY end, but it was 99% of the novel and I was so sick of hearing about it.
The ending did not work for me. You cannot tell me things wrap up this neatly for such a messy world and cast of characters. I simply do not buy it.
(Also, on that note and as a petty aside, humans in this book appear to be able to survive days of freezing and submersion in frigid Arctic and Antarctic waters and all kinds of physical trauma and just carry on feeling very cold. Nobody would just freaking die, lol.)
There was so much potential but I feel it was wasted for lack of nuance and detail.
bethh0rn's review
emotional
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
amberinbookland's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Rape, Sexism, Injury/injury detail, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Grief, Confinement, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Car accident, Blood, Miscarriage, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Death of parent, and Animal death
annao's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
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
4.5
jordreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
superdilettante's review
5.0
An utterly captivating novel - part climate elegy, part Irish mystery, part seafaring tale.
leotrina's review
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
melodyqu's review
emotional
reflective
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
4.0
strozi's review
3.0
3.5 stars. I really liked the writing. There were some things in the story that kind of annoyed me but overall it was a great story with great characters.