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lilcoppertop's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mattburris's review against another edition
5.0
This book has EVERYTHING. And somehow it all holds together. Funny and weird and so much more. I really liked it and would’ve happily kept reading if I hadn’t gotten to the end. Recommended.
drewsof's review against another edition
4.0
It's admittedly strange to see Sjón operating in a maximalist mode after his run of success with short, magically realist novels. But unsurprisingly, it works: he's putting it all out there, taking a shot at including everything he's interested in -- and so the story swings from romance to speculative to adventure to crime to non-fiction (or hypothetically non-fiction) to even a bit of memoir (both personal and fictional). And sometimes, it feels a bit too much! But that's okay! Even when I felt overwhelmed by how much was happening or I got bored of yet another digression, Sjón kept me in it with his prose (and the lovely, light translation) and his narrative drive. Plus, there are payoffs, I promise you.
This might not be the book to make you a Sjón fan -- I'd recommend starting with THE BLUE FOX -- but it will reward the faithful for sure.
This might not be the book to make you a Sjón fan -- I'd recommend starting with THE BLUE FOX -- but it will reward the faithful for sure.
rorikae's review
3.0
This is a strange book. It was well written and relatively easy to read, which is essential for a medium to long book. The plot was interesting though I found that far less happened in it than I was expecting from the length and the blurb. The story is broken up into three sections, each with their own descriptor. I found the first descriptor "a love story" accurate but I found that the second section was very loosely "a crime story" and the epilogue was more of "a science-fiction story" than the entire third section. In total, I found the Epilogue of the story, which was only nine pages in length, more interesting than the entirety of the rest of the plot. It spoke to stories and their ability to last beyond the end of a book in a way that I loved and provided a fascinating sci-fi future that I would have liked to see explored more within the main body of the text. I think it is well worth the read but I would say that it didn't quite match up with how it was presented. Read this book if you want something well-written but don't want to get bogged down in an elaborate plot. There is certainly plot here but I didn't find that it was as engaging or interesting as the blurb suggested. I would highly recommend the Epilogue alone, especially for people who love stories and their ability to affect one's life long after the book has been closed.
michellehogmire's review
5.0
WOW WHAT?! Sjón has that certain kind of Lynchian narrative audacity, where his sheer commitment to a story can make you believe anything. I mean, this thing's got angels, werewolves, unicorns, kids made out of clay, Soviet spies with tails, black theologian wrestlers, etc--not to mention a completely bonkers storytelling frame, involving a transwoman and a genetics company, that spans over three novels: a love story, a crime story, and a science fiction story, taking place from WWII to the future. Just get a damn copy.
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