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pam_pam_85's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
caprivoyant's review
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, Car accident, and Death of parent
flissrobyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
5.0
My only response is… wow. I finished it within 4 hours of starting it, and couldn’t tear myself away.
It was confusing to start, and that felt intentional. The lack of chapters left you having to really try to figure out at which point of time you were in.
The book is written as if a letter to someone. As the book progressed, in tandem you learned more about the narrator, and their life and illness. It was mysterious and haunting.
The first half read like a love letter, and then it becomes clear that it’s not.
The story, the writing, made me feel a lot of emotions, and I’m still reeling from it!
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Xenophobia, and Abandonment
tamarant4's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Is it possible to work with a material so long and still not understand its condition? We are figures briefly draw in space; given temporary form in exchange for consciousness, sense, a chance. We are ready-mades, disposables. How do we live every last moment as this -- savant dust? [p. 166]
My desire to read this short novel was sparked by my discovery that it was, in part, about the narrator Edith's relationship with her mother, who suffered a brain haemorrhage when Edith was eight years old, and effectively became a different person whom Edith knew as Naomi. (I was ten when I experienced something very similar, though I did not bestow a new name on my mother.) Edith becomes an sculptor of some renown, and the eponymous Burntcoat is her home, a converted warehouse that's spacious enough to accommodate her works.
Fulfils the ‘one word title’ rubric of the Something Bookish Reading Challenge.
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Suicide and Violence
micaelabrody's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
At my core I need to shut the hell up and read a short novel that changes me forever (allsadnshit)
i can now share that burntcoat is one of those novels.
like many i think i was skeptical of "the covid novel" but i think this one pulled it off. by maintaining a laser focus on one person, it didn't try to really capture the scale and scope of a pandemic, just the personal effects. i did feel that halit was underdeveloped considering how much of a presence he was, so he felt more like a symbol of "body of another" more than a person in his own right. this could have been intentional but considering the careful thought put into the body of edith and her mother, it felt a little flat.
many reviews on here at first glance seem to focus on the "bodily fluids." yes, there were a lot of bodily fluids i guess - though at 3/4 of the way through i did specifically note that i didn't feel like it was more than usual for an adult contemporary that focused on a sexual relationship. once the focus shifted to the sickness ("nova") it increased, but it felt appropriate. i constantly reference the article that talked about characters having bodily functions in the handmaid's tale - this book really follows up on that; it is unflinching in the face of shit and semen and piss. without that, it would have fallen so flat. the entire focus is on the body. even her giant witch sculpture is controversial because of its aggressive use of breasts and vagina. why write a book about a deadly illness - two, if you count her mom - and avoid the inherent grossness of still being alive??
(similarly - i saw a review complaining it was in 2nd person. IT IS NOT IN 2ND PERSON. it is in 1st person!! she is addressing a character as "you"! this isn't uncommon! they're totally different!!! I do not think it means what you think it means.gif)
this was especially effective because the novel really felt like a gothic horror story, where the sickness was the ghost in the haunted house. (her mommy issues, which i personally had been hoping to avoid but were objectively done well, were another haunting, and the aforementioned narrow focus on edith's experience and her home really drove home the eeriness of isolation.) the pacing didn't quite match up as it felt a little end-heavy, and the constant double line breaks really hindered developing a rhythm in the otherwise gorgeous prose, but they didn't have a significant impact in the overall vibe and atmosphere, especially once the plot really kicked into high gear around page 100.
i think this book is understandably not for everyone and at times it was tough to read - at a personal level, i've read a lot of Mother or Grandmother stuff recently and i'm in desperate need of a reprieve - but it worked as a tense and unsettling elegy. yes, a short & quick book, a slice of devastation.
Graphic: Death, Excrement, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
char_lottevg's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide attempt
amyymon's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abandonment
victoria_catherine_shaw's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Gore, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Excrement, Grief, and Death of parent
savvylit's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
There are two primary threads in this story. The first thread follows Edith's experience with her lover Halit during the novavirus pandemic. The second is Edith's reflections on growing up with her mother, a stroke survivor. Ultimately, Burntcoat weaves a tale that is somehow both bleak and beautiful. In writing this novel, Sarah Hall has written a lyrical and humane take on the full spectrum of mortality.
Though I personally found this novel to be a little too on-the-nose, I am definitely looking forward to reading more of Hall's work. Her beautiful prose has enchanted me and I'd love to experience more of it.
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent
lola_milk's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
However, I'm not sure if these elements paired well with the narrative about the main character and her lover trying to survive a pandemic. The relationship with the lover was just not as compelling as her relationship with her mum, and I am very burnt out on pandemic stories for obvious reasons.
The book was beautifully written, with gleaming prose.
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Dementia
Moderate: Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail