Reviews

Inland by Téa Obreht

dontpanic42's review against another edition

2.0

I really love the piece of history—camels in the old west—that inspired this book. And Obreht writes lovely sentences that work best when read slowly and carefully. Sadly for me, the storylines here just never quite captured me. There are two storylines that will, of course, eventually intersect. But within the stories I found the narrative wanting, with vagaries in the plot and somewhat one-dimensional or archetypical characters. And I found the ultimate intersection of the stories was anticlimactic. In the end, I’m left with a novel that never quite fulfilled its promise.

jesassa's review against another edition

3.0

I remember loving THE TIGER’S WIFE. This novel didn’t grab me like that one did and it certainly didn’t keep my attention as much as I expected. This was very well written and beautiful in parts, but not what I expected.

dhar7's review

1.0

I powered through this book for B&N book club. I did not enjoy this read at all. Was the plot was slow? Yup. Was the story engaging? Nope. Were the characters likable and relatable? No. Did the ending make sense? Nope. Was I glad when I finished this book? Yup!! Did I return this book to the store? You betcha!

akennedy772's review against another edition

4.0

Communicates the brutality of westward expansion and living at that time. Great characters, well written

julesanne's review against another edition

2.0

I am debating between 2 and 3 stars, so I am giving it a 2.5.

snickies's review against another edition

4.0

I am not sure if I enjoyed this book, but it was very compelling.

jennie_cole's review against another edition

2.0

Inland is a story set in the southwest in the late 1800s. It is broken into two parts two in an alternating pattern. You have Nora Lark in Arizona and Lurie Mattie traveling all over. Lurie's story spans a long time and is the journey of a former outlaw and a camel. Nora's story mainly takes place over a 48ish hour period in 1893.

While their stories come together in the very end I did not find either of them very compelling. I was also disappointed in the ending. I was not a fan of Tea Obreht's first novel, The Tiger's Wife, and wanted to give her another try to see if it was just that book, but it seems that I am not a big fan of her writing.

Now if you liked her first book then please get this one as I think you might like it.

carlybarly6's review against another edition

3.0

Two narratives set in 1893— Lurie, a Middle Eastern immigrant and wanted man who travels the west with his camel, and Nora, temporarily (or permanently) abandoned on her Arizona homestead by her husband and sons. Lurie and Nora each know pain and unending toil. And each is haunted. I was never captivated by this novel, some parts full of engaging character studies, and some parts just slow. However, Tea Obreht does a wonderful job of bringing setting to life to make you feel like you’re in the wild west, and that in itself is fun. The culmination of the stories was not extraordinary, but it was satisfying.

lauren_reidxoxo's review against another edition

dnf (did not finish)

This book has absolutely no plot in the portion I read. The premise sounded really interesting, and the first chapter was a really good set up. But from there, there was nothing that made me want to read it.

It wasn’t exactly info-dumping, but the timeline changed so much— with no warning or explanation! It was very difficult to read, and I couldn’t get through it

ccarboni06's review

3.0

Really 3.5 stars. The ending was good but I really struggled to get through it. I would’ve never finished if it weren’t the B&N book club for this month.