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A review by colbyjackcheese
Folk by Zoe Gilbert
4.0
3.5 stars if I could do halves.
I had no expectations going into this book - I picked it up at the library and found the blurb interesting. Right from when I started I really enjoyed the writing style, it's very distinct, haunting, and different to anything else I've read. I can see how it'd be hard for some people to get into, but I'm a slow reader anyway so it didn't affect my pace, and I really enjoyed Gilbert's turns of phrase and strong imagery. The writing style will probably stick with me for longer than the stories themselves.
That said, I found most of the stories very memorable. The weakest by far (in my opinion) was 'Earth Is Not For Eating', which I found very predictable, and didn't add anything to the worldlore or characters, but all the others had something to like about. I noticed that a lot of the reviews mention not being able to truly like any of the characters due to not being able to get to know them enough, but I didn't find that - I formed opinions on a lot of the characters, especially those who recurred in multiple stories, and sometimes those opinions even changed as the book went on.
Most of the stories have somewhat bittersweet endings, and most characters' lives never fully get wrapped up - there are always loose ends, always imperfections, which made the world feel very real, and very human. The only story I'd consider to have a truly happy ending is 'Swirling Cleft', which was also one of my favorites. I also particularly enjoyed 'The Neverness Ox-Men', 'Thunder Cracks', 'Verlyn's Blessings', and 'Tether' - and I would have liked 'Long Have I Lain Beside The Water' far more if it wasn't for my dislike of Galushen as a character and his constant selfishness, even though the author seemed to be portraying him as sympathetic.
I thought the author did a good job making it feel like time progressed as the book went on, and I really felt the passing of a generation. I felt the links between each story, and was excited to see mentions of characters who had come before, constantly flicking back to remind myself of where they had come from in comparison to where they were now, and felt like I had a good sense of the island's whole population by the end - each of them as important in their own right, instead of as side characters in just one person's story. That said, it was hard to determine the timeline in a more exact sense, even with the occasional mention of characters' ages. I would have liked if the book had ended with a more precise timeline, since sometimes I'd get confused with characters' ages in relation to one another, and thought the timeline might be contradicting itself. Maybe it would lessen the mystery surrounding the stories to give an exact timeline, but it would definitely clear things up for me.
What I disliked most about the book was the extremely traditional and rigid gender roles given to men and women in the story. Despite being technically a fantasy novel, it really seemed to mimic our society in that sense, with any deviations being either kept secret or allowed only due to necessity. All female characters except one or two are interested primarily in marriage and children, and only male characters have lives outside of this. These roles weren't ever really questioned or criticized in any meaningful sense by either the characters or the author, which made me a little uncomfortable throughout, and kept the book feeling very stuck in the past. A more modern take could have made this a favorite of mine.
I would read another book of Gilbert's, and I'd recommend this to other readers I know, but with some reservations. Its strengths are really strong, and the author clearly has real talent that stands out from the crowd, but I can't help but feel like she longs to live in the 1950s where societal expectations are far more traditional and simplistic. And if that's not the case, I'd love to see her prove it in a second novel.
I had no expectations going into this book - I picked it up at the library and found the blurb interesting. Right from when I started I really enjoyed the writing style, it's very distinct, haunting, and different to anything else I've read. I can see how it'd be hard for some people to get into, but I'm a slow reader anyway so it didn't affect my pace, and I really enjoyed Gilbert's turns of phrase and strong imagery. The writing style will probably stick with me for longer than the stories themselves.
That said, I found most of the stories very memorable. The weakest by far (in my opinion) was 'Earth Is Not For Eating', which I found very predictable, and didn't add anything to the worldlore or characters, but all the others had something to like about. I noticed that a lot of the reviews mention not being able to truly like any of the characters due to not being able to get to know them enough, but I didn't find that - I formed opinions on a lot of the characters, especially those who recurred in multiple stories, and sometimes those opinions even changed as the book went on.
Most of the stories have somewhat bittersweet endings, and most characters' lives never fully get wrapped up - there are always loose ends, always imperfections, which made the world feel very real, and very human. The only story I'd consider to have a truly happy ending is 'Swirling Cleft', which was also one of my favorites. I also particularly enjoyed 'The Neverness Ox-Men', 'Thunder Cracks', 'Verlyn's Blessings', and 'Tether' - and I would have liked 'Long Have I Lain Beside The Water' far more if it wasn't for my dislike of Galushen as a character and his constant selfishness, even though the author seemed to be portraying him as sympathetic.
I thought the author did a good job making it feel like time progressed as the book went on, and I really felt the passing of a generation. I felt the links between each story, and was excited to see mentions of characters who had come before, constantly flicking back to remind myself of where they had come from in comparison to where they were now, and felt like I had a good sense of the island's whole population by the end - each of them as important in their own right, instead of as side characters in just one person's story. That said, it was hard to determine the timeline in a more exact sense, even with the occasional mention of characters' ages. I would have liked if the book had ended with a more precise timeline, since sometimes I'd get confused with characters' ages in relation to one another, and thought the timeline might be contradicting itself. Maybe it would lessen the mystery surrounding the stories to give an exact timeline, but it would definitely clear things up for me.
What I disliked most about the book was the extremely traditional and rigid gender roles given to men and women in the story. Despite being technically a fantasy novel, it really seemed to mimic our society in that sense, with any deviations being either kept secret or allowed only due to necessity. All female characters except one or two are interested primarily in marriage and children, and only male characters have lives outside of this. These roles weren't ever really questioned or criticized in any meaningful sense by either the characters or the author, which made me a little uncomfortable throughout, and kept the book feeling very stuck in the past. A more modern take could have made this a favorite of mine.
I would read another book of Gilbert's, and I'd recommend this to other readers I know, but with some reservations. Its strengths are really strong, and the author clearly has real talent that stands out from the crowd, but I can't help but feel like she longs to live in the 1950s where societal expectations are far more traditional and simplistic. And if that's not the case, I'd love to see her prove it in a second novel.