A review by ehinrichsenjr
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced
  • 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

4.0

There's a lot I liked about the book: contrary to the other reviewers I've seen, I liked Ruth, even if she is an author-self-insert. I liked how well fleshed-out the characters on the island are, they felt very realistic. I was initially annoyed by Nao's writing, since I think it attempted (at first) to sound like a teenager and it came off a little cringeworthy, but I eventually warmed up to it. The book ebbs and flows, and I found myself reading to get it over with in some spots, but I will say I did stay up late to finish the last one hundred pages. If I had one major complaint,
it's the fact that, near the end of the book, Nao becomes a prostitute for... what reason? After the very disturbing rape scene, the prostitution didn't really add much to the story, and I think you could have bumped that and made the assault the "rock bottom", which is what I think Ozeki was going for.
The story wraps up nicely, and I really enjoyed the
weird, almost dreamlike
aspects of the story, that alone made me enjoy the ending quite a bit more.
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