Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A perfectly weird story that I absolutely loved. Those familiar with Yaa Gyasi’s ‘Homegoing’ or perhaps Octavia Butler’s Wildseed series will see some of those threads in this story. But at the same time, Ironmonger offers a whole unique novel with his own twists. Very creative, very well done, decently odd. 5/5.
I do not normally buy books based on the cover but the artwork really grabbed me.
I loved this book, I was pleasantly surprised. I did get a little disappointed towards the end but I think that was because I was invested in the characters and I wanted more, without the lengthy time jump.
An enjoyable read which also looks great on my shelf.
I loved this book, I was pleasantly surprised. I did get a little disappointed towards the end but I think that was because I was invested in the characters and I wanted more, without the lengthy time jump.
An enjoyable read which also looks great on my shelf.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Actie, avontuur, spectaculaire ontsnappingen, verborgen schatten.
'De vele levens van Heloise Starchild' is een jongensboek.
Zou je denken.
Maar dat is het niet.
Het was me tijdens het lezen niet eens zo erg opgevallen - pas nu dringt het tot me door: het is in de eerste plaats een boek over sterke vrouwen.
Van Héloise tot Halley - niet toevallig genoemd naar de komeet - over Marianne en (vooral) Katya, allemaal worstelen ze zich los - al dan niet van mannelijke dominantie.
De premisse is geweldig: elke dochter van elk personage 'erft' de herinneringen van alle vorige generaties in de vorm van heldere, levendige, haast plastische dromen. Geluk wordt tast-, pijn helaas ook voelbaar. En dan is er nog het geheim van de verborgen rijkdommen - een mythe of toch werkelijkheid?
Ironmonger neemt je met vaardige hand op sleeptouw over de grenzen van tijd en ruimte heen, koppelt actie aan emotie, geweld aan tederheid, wraak aan verzoening.
'De vele levens van Heloise Starchild' bevat echo's van heel wat boeken die ik graag gelezen heb en is toch volstrekt origineel.
Het is een gelaagd leesavontuur.
Veel meer dan een jongensboek.
'De vele levens van Heloise Starchild' is een jongensboek.
Zou je denken.
Maar dat is het niet.
Het was me tijdens het lezen niet eens zo erg opgevallen - pas nu dringt het tot me door: het is in de eerste plaats een boek over sterke vrouwen.
Van Héloise tot Halley - niet toevallig genoemd naar de komeet - over Marianne en (vooral) Katya, allemaal worstelen ze zich los - al dan niet van mannelijke dominantie.
De premisse is geweldig: elke dochter van elk personage 'erft' de herinneringen van alle vorige generaties in de vorm van heldere, levendige, haast plastische dromen. Geluk wordt tast-, pijn helaas ook voelbaar. En dan is er nog het geheim van de verborgen rijkdommen - een mythe of toch werkelijkheid?
Ironmonger neemt je met vaardige hand op sleeptouw over de grenzen van tijd en ruimte heen, koppelt actie aan emotie, geweld aan tederheid, wraak aan verzoening.
'De vele levens van Heloise Starchild' bevat echo's van heel wat boeken die ik graag gelezen heb en is toch volstrekt origineel.
Het is een gelaagd leesavontuur.
Veel meer dan een jongensboek.
medium-paced
quick read, an interesting premise but one that’s been done before and done better?
3.5 stars
- first third of the book was a little boring
- mostly written in 3rd person objective pov, so there are no thoughts or interiority. This made it hard for me to really feel for the characters. It also made them seem quite stoic.
- the writing style is a little old-fashioned.
+ well-written descriptions which made it easy to picture the worlds these characters live in.
+ the book got better and better towards the ending.
+ strong female characters.
+ interesting premise. I really like the trope.
+ or -? The additional chapter at the very end was both fun and weird. It didn't fit well with the rest of the book. The book would have been more poignant without it.
- first third of the book was a little boring
- mostly written in 3rd person objective pov, so there are no thoughts or interiority. This made it hard for me to really feel for the characters. It also made them seem quite stoic.
- the writing style is a little old-fashioned.
+ well-written descriptions which made it easy to picture the worlds these characters live in.
+ the book got better and better towards the ending.
+ strong female characters.
+ interesting premise. I really like the trope.
+ or -? The additional chapter at the very end was both fun and weird. It didn't fit well with the rest of the book. The book would have been more poignant without it.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
This book was quite enjoyable. I liked how real historical events were woven into the plot. That, along with the foreign languages sprinkled throughout, shows how much research the author put into this. It did get a bit confusing and overwhelming at times with how many characters and time periods there were, but it wasn’t enough to really halt my enjoyment of the book. For a few events it feels like I’m being told about them instead of shown them, but it wasn’t near all of them and I’d say was a symptom of the book spanning so many generations. If the book was longer those events could’ve been expanded upon, but they didn’t really *need* to be for them to be effective enough in my opinion. I eventually deeply cared for the characters, and sincerely hoped things got better for them. The last chapter was pretty different from the rest and was initially confusing, however by the end it wasn’t confusing anymore and the chapter left the story on a hopeful note and was awfully beautiful. I don’t know if/when I’d reread it, but it was a gem I won’t be forgetting for a while.