Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - The Wall

I loved all the animals.
But such a shame that the existence of “wall” wasn’t explored at all. It appeared one night and the woman was like “oh okay I guess I’ll plant some potatoes then” . All I want to say is that it feels like Wall is a bit unnecessary to the plot. The woman’s character is very passive (and she is so attached to the animals) that she would’ve stayed at that house no matter what, even if there was no Wall at all.

Even though the book is super sad and explores grief and loneliness to great extend, it was still lacking something for me.
The story is well forged, it feels like a solid 4 stars read; but personally I would give it 3 starts.

And

who was that man?!?!

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s_l's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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scruffie's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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andrewhatesham's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

3.25

I think understanding the context surrounding this as well as the subtext is really important, otherwise you'll likely get bored. This is very much something you read for the journey, not the destination, so don't go into this expecting any twists and turns.

As a fan of fast paced reads, this was definitely a challenge for me, but I am glad I finished it because I actually enjoyed the second half more than the first!

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silvae's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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lilifane's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This premise was very intriguing. The atmosphere was excellent, very depressing, tense, lonely but also peaceful. I liked the survival aspect of the plot and the stream of consciousness way of story telling. It got a little too repetitive towards the end. On the other hand, the repetitions had an impact on the atmosphere. Unfortunately, I didn't like the writing style, and it effected my reading experience in a negative way. (It's definitely a me-thing. I just don't vibe with vocabulary from this specific time period and place) Still, the book is thought-provoking and reading it during a pandemic definitely hits differently. I think it will stay with me for a little while.

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elledanie's review against another edition

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reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

1.0

Spoiler: You never find out what The Wall is

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andicbuchanan's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

I'm aware there was a particular group of feminist books that centred women cut off from society and finding rhythm with the natural world. I've enjoyed a couple I've read, despite not being the natural audience for them, and can see how this falls in that tradition. And yet it... just doesn't work.

Unlike some readers, I didn't need an explanation or a resolution - I was fine with taking the situation as read - but neither the personality and reflections, nor the prose, sustained anything like the length of this book. I hate to say this about any book but I was frankly bored for three quarters of it. I guess I would be less resourceful and more bored if I was cut off from humanity too, so maybe that's on me.

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