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

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • 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

i have really mixed feelings. this book has a lot of beautiful, carefully crafted moments about existence and time and persistence in doing the right thing in harrowing circumstances. i do think some of the paragraphs in this book will stay with me from how luminous and achingly human they were. but something about the writing was a little grating to me (i could not tell you why. personal feeling, but it did keep me from connecting with any of the characters)... i also have to point out that the author does drop slurs in this book, and while i can't comment on the j slur being there because it is reclaimed by the author (though at some point... a white man... uses it?), there is also the e slur casually being dropped and mentions of "political correctedness" (abbreviated to "PC") which feels a tad... condescending? but that's it. 
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