jjohnsen's review
3.0
This was a tough one to finish, it has a lot of cool ideas and characters, but I just couldn't get into the story
nukie19's review
2.0
I just couldn't really get into this book. I kept waiting for the moment where it all came together for me, but I just didn't click with it.
randyrasa's review
4.0
Lidia Yuknavitch is a brilliant, challenging writer. Her writing is dense, violent, brash, and often extremely confusing. There are parts of this book that I had to read multiple times, and I'm still not sure that I've understood a tenth of the content and context. She writes beautifully at times, and the text is chock-full of ideas, themes, allusions, and allegory. I find myself in awe. I often feel dumb, or maybe just numb. But somehow, I love it. Bravo.
juliwi's review
4.0
Ever since my father introduced me to Star Wars as a child I have been in awe of the stories that Science-Fiction can tell, when done right. Similarly to Fantasy, it allows authors to discuss worldly problems in a foreign setting, highlighting their hypocrisy or methods. Once you mix Science-Fiction with Dystopia you have an incredibly powerful tool with which to reassess our world. It is with that in mind I started reading The Book of Joan and yet I still wasn't prepared for what was to come. Thanks to Canongate and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The novel swims with themes and philosophies. The Book of Joan is a cry for environmentalism, full of the pain of a dying and decaying world, an ode to the beauty of nature that is slowly being destroyed. Although quite obvious, it never felt too on the nose for me. Similarly, The Book of Joan is an exploration of love, sex and bodies. At times the book may be too crude in this exploration for some readers, as Yuknavitch unblinkingly analyses human impulses and bodies. But there is a beauty in how unrelenting she is, the way in which she shows Christine using her own body to tell stories, to feel, to express herself, by inscribing them upon her own skin. It may not be for everyone, it's not necessarily for me, but it is fascinating and definitely made me think about my own body and how I express myself with it, through it. It made me think about how we judge others by how they carry themselves, how they claim an identity through their bodies.
Yuknavitch's writing in The Book of Joan is at times lyrical, at other times brutal. She switches between moments of intense beauty and heartbreak to horrible descriptions of warfare and horror. You can't have one without the other, she almost seems to say. From destruction comes creation, life from death. It is hard balance to strike but Yuknavitch strikes it beautifully. For me the novel took on something of an allegorical feel as I was reading it. On the one hand the plot is there and is what the book turns on, on the other hand it is about much more than that. The characters could be stand-ins for philosophies or ideologies, the action an expression of our own history and potential future. THe Book of Joan will not be for everyone. One has to partially put one's expectations to the side and let the book do its thing. The bewildering, alien existence of those in CIEL, the struggle and hardship of those on Earth, it all comes together into a story that tries to convey the importance of love, of companionship, of understanding, of caring and of the power of standing up for what you believe in.
The Book of Joan will not be for everyone. It is both bleak and horrifying, as well as beautiful and heartening. It is a book you will question, struggle with, but (hopefully) emerge from with a different outlook on things, a new appreciation for our Earth and our selves. I'd recommend this to readers interested in Speculative Fiction and Dystopian Fiction.
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2018/01/review-book-of-joan-by-lidia-yuknavitch.html
The novel swims with themes and philosophies. The Book of Joan is a cry for environmentalism, full of the pain of a dying and decaying world, an ode to the beauty of nature that is slowly being destroyed. Although quite obvious, it never felt too on the nose for me. Similarly, The Book of Joan is an exploration of love, sex and bodies. At times the book may be too crude in this exploration for some readers, as Yuknavitch unblinkingly analyses human impulses and bodies. But there is a beauty in how unrelenting she is, the way in which she shows Christine using her own body to tell stories, to feel, to express herself, by inscribing them upon her own skin. It may not be for everyone, it's not necessarily for me, but it is fascinating and definitely made me think about my own body and how I express myself with it, through it. It made me think about how we judge others by how they carry themselves, how they claim an identity through their bodies.
Yuknavitch's writing in The Book of Joan is at times lyrical, at other times brutal. She switches between moments of intense beauty and heartbreak to horrible descriptions of warfare and horror. You can't have one without the other, she almost seems to say. From destruction comes creation, life from death. It is hard balance to strike but Yuknavitch strikes it beautifully. For me the novel took on something of an allegorical feel as I was reading it. On the one hand the plot is there and is what the book turns on, on the other hand it is about much more than that. The characters could be stand-ins for philosophies or ideologies, the action an expression of our own history and potential future. THe Book of Joan will not be for everyone. One has to partially put one's expectations to the side and let the book do its thing. The bewildering, alien existence of those in CIEL, the struggle and hardship of those on Earth, it all comes together into a story that tries to convey the importance of love, of companionship, of understanding, of caring and of the power of standing up for what you believe in.
The Book of Joan will not be for everyone. It is both bleak and horrifying, as well as beautiful and heartening. It is a book you will question, struggle with, but (hopefully) emerge from with a different outlook on things, a new appreciation for our Earth and our selves. I'd recommend this to readers interested in Speculative Fiction and Dystopian Fiction.
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2018/01/review-book-of-joan-by-lidia-yuknavitch.html
amandaegle's review
2.0
I just could not get into the story. I found it really slow and not very captivating.
justfoxie's review against another edition
2.0
Read for Housman’s Feminist Science Fiction Book Club
This book was not enjoyable to read and at times made me feel physically ill. But there is an epicness and unflinching portrayal of desolation that deserves recognition as exceptional fiction. Not sure I’m glad to have read it though.
This book was not enjoyable to read and at times made me feel physically ill. But there is an epicness and unflinching portrayal of desolation that deserves recognition as exceptional fiction. Not sure I’m glad to have read it though.
sarracenia's review
3.0
I read this for my book group, and wow it is is a strange novel! There is very little world-building at the beginning so it took me a while to figure out what was going on and I kept thinking about giving up because it is all so strange. What exactly has happened to the world and how did these people both on CIEL and on Earth end up like this? There are parts where people come back to life and die again, travel through caves with names stretching from Malaysia to New Zealand, and then to Paris, but how are they travelling? If Joan is an engenderine and can travel through matter, how can Leone cover these distances with her? What was Earth like before it was destroyed? I had so many questions, many of which were never satisfactorily answered. And yet, I carried on reading in the hopes that it would all make more sense if I read more. There is little to no explanation or analysis and a lot is left up to the reader to decide or figure out. Despite this, it is an quick read with nice short chapters and straightforward language. Some of the passages are actually really beautiful. Would I read it again? No. Am I glad I finished it? Yes and it's the kind of book I'll think about from time to time. 3.5 stars.
skrau's review
3.0
While I'm glad the world in this book and its history was unfolded as it went along, without long-winded expositions or descriptions, I'm not sure it was as fully developed as it attempted to be and I spent much of the first part especially mostly confused and felt like I was trying too hard to get into it. Books 2 & 3, in contrast, were hard to put down and a little clearer, and by that point the pace had picked up so fast and some of the writing so good it didn't seem to matter. The love story towards the end (but which was was obvious from early on) for me was maybe the most devastating aspect of the book, although I think the whole book will stay with me a while, even if it was far from perfect.
joaniemaloney's review
4.0
idk how to review this to it justice. help.
I want to type out all my favourite passages but that'd take forever. (Leone, Leone. I'm a sap and I love the relationship so fiercely.) I'm so glad I gave this a chance even though I felt like I wasn't the audience for [b:The Small Backs of Children|23462654|The Small Backs of Children|Lidia Yuknavitch|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1428352602s/23462654.jpg|43048312]. This one took me a while for such a slim volume (with such destruction and ideas) because first it was me trying to make sure I was gripping tightly enough to take this ride above the ruined Earth, and then I took ages reading it because my eyes kept doubling back, and doubling back, to read the passages that struck so hard. I couldn't and didn't want to let go just yet.
More like a 4.5, because some moments had me wishing I had a better memory to keep them in mind, instead of them inevitably dissolving as more books come after this one. :( I don't think this one's for everybody (as evidenced by the ratings, ha) because it's just so sprawling and messy and loud in its messages (which I ADORED) and unapologetic about everything, and also for the violence. I can't imagine any of Yuknavitch's books - though I've only read two so far - being easy recs. And that's definitely a good thing.
I want to type out all my favourite passages but that'd take forever. (Leone, Leone. I'm a sap and I love the relationship so fiercely.) I'm so glad I gave this a chance even though I felt like I wasn't the audience for [b:The Small Backs of Children|23462654|The Small Backs of Children|Lidia Yuknavitch|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1428352602s/23462654.jpg|43048312]. This one took me a while for such a slim volume (with such destruction and ideas) because first it was me trying to make sure I was gripping tightly enough to take this ride above the ruined Earth, and then I took ages reading it because my eyes kept doubling back, and doubling back, to read the passages that struck so hard. I couldn't and didn't want to let go just yet.
More like a 4.5, because some moments had me wishing I had a better memory to keep them in mind, instead of them inevitably dissolving as more books come after this one. :( I don't think this one's for everybody (as evidenced by the ratings, ha) because it's just so sprawling and messy and loud in its messages (which I ADORED) and unapologetic about everything, and also for the violence. I can't imagine any of Yuknavitch's books - though I've only read two so far - being easy recs. And that's definitely a good thing.