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jitterbugsnap's review against another edition
medium-paced
5.0
"Count it as the universe's cruelest irony that the ghosts, who alone could piece a whole story together, are uniquely unable to tell it."
I loved this book from the beginning -- I'm enamored with Makkai's style, and the structure was well chosen and well implemented. This will leave me lingering on impermanence and lost contexts for a while to come.
I loved this book from the beginning -- I'm enamored with Makkai's style, and the structure was well chosen and well implemented. This will leave me lingering on impermanence and lost contexts for a while to come.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Racism
mateoj's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I'm mad because I absolutely adored The Borrower and therefore had really high hopes for this book, but it's just so slow and unsatisfying. I couldn't really get behind any of the characters, which is fine (no one said a protagonist has to be a good person), but none of them managed to be bad people in a way that made me want to read about them or care what happened to them despite it. The superatural element was the only truly interesting thing about this book and it was essentially nonexistent, just a topic of conversation to give the characters a connnection. lots of egregious racism that seemed to seve no purpose whatsoever. I have no idea how i was meant to be feeling at the end of the book or what exactly it was trying to tell me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence
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