Reviews

The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson

otterlost's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

laurasauras's review against another edition

2.0

I found it heavy-handed on the allegorical stuff, which left me feeling kind of condescended to, and couldn't connect with any of the characters. The emphasis on the cycle was interesting, gotta love me some queer romance, but I really had to push myself to finish it.

lbarsk's review against another edition

2.0

Mostly this book leaves me feeling pretty depressed about our prospects as Earth and the human race -- as I think is the point -- but I can recognize it as solid writing and "book-plotting." Winterson is NO SLOUCH and knows how to pack a punch, though her prose did take a bit of getting used to.

I found the book's fundamental concept, "Everything is imprinted for ever with what it once was," fascinating to think about, and I appreciated the parallel narratives/past lives/future lives situation going on. It's just REALLY HARD to read this and come out of it feeling good about anything; Winterson captures the worst of Western society and takes it too far and shows us its devastating effects, which we are of course unable to reverse and so everything falls to shit. In that way I think it's a critical read -- everyone SHOULD be thinking about environmental conservation and where power lies in our societies and the crushing burden of patriarchy -- but definitely a terrifying one to dive into right before this shitshow of an American presidential election.

abmgw's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

alyxbrett's review against another edition

reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

rituxa's review against another edition

3.0

there are so many great bits that get unfortunately tangled with pointless abstract and shock value details and scenes that take away from the otherwise great concept of the book.

tsauxghiegh's review against another edition

4.0

A, strangely poetic, sapphic science fiction piece that felt simultaneously bigger than itself and like Groundhog day.

pondaholic's review against another edition

The humor, the timelines, it's quite jolting. It's reminiscent of "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" and reimagines our history like "The Passion," but imaginative of relationships like "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep." It pushes the boundaries of our concepts of love, being loved.

Spoiler: (The weird final android head was just weird and off-putting to me...a bit. Well done, but weird...)

kiayaa's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

ladywhiskers's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0