Reviews

Through the Arc of the Rain Forest by Karen Tei Yamashita

arendjenabbe's review against another edition

5.0

Damn, this book is an interesting one. The stories start of seemingly unconnected, but the further you advance the more they connect. Very well written, easy to read, good storytelling. Loved it!

aleksander_at_sea's review

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Suicide

payaut's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.5

read for class, so unfortunately that can ding the rating…

i think this book has a great message to it and it’s super unique and creative with its concept. however comma, the writing style really grated on me and i found the book frustrating to read as i continued on. the characters were so impersonal and there were SO. MANY. LISTS. i skimmed almost all of them because there would be multiple lists of 4+ items (sometimes spanning over 5 lines of text) on a single page! i just couldn’t take it

moopy_27's review against another edition

4.0

I really liked this book and think about it often.

elaba25's review

funny medium-paced

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

3.0

Strange, strange book told from the perspective of a ball that floats in front of a man’s head. Some commentary on capitalism, globalism, environmental exploitation, etc. but I was not too entranced by it. That being said, I found some specific characters such as Kazumasa and JB to be interesting to read into. I recognize some of the prose is nice but just not my thing. 

mermonf's review against another edition

4.0

realisme màgic + environmental justice
és raro en ganes, però la crítica i l'alegoria són fortíssimes. molt guay

miraswan's review against another edition

4.0

You should read this book. Like full stop, I cannot get over the absolutely bizarre shit that happened in this book. It had me in the first half with its humor and its commentary and the story it was building with all the characters. I knew where this was going to go, we dissected it in class enough. Plus, an arc goes back to the beginning, slightly different, but beginning nonetheless. This novel was like watching ice break. The triumphant of walking across without failure only to see the hairline cracks expand and expand and expand. I can only say with great relief that some characters I loved survived. But only some. Anyway, good luck, you'll need it.

jestintzi's review against another edition

5.0

I found myself a little unsure about the last third of the book (though I love the ending). This book is so weird, and I'll admit I think part of what I was unsure about maybe was simply due to the context of my reading it during a pandemic.

Either way, this book is great, and I was unsure because I just read "I Hotel," which is an ambitious and fairly recent novel, while this is her first. But it held up, and I look forward to reading the rest.

Highly recommend taking a chance on Yamashita!

littleagle's review against another edition

5.0

Damn, this book is an interesting one. The stories start of seemingly unconnected, but the further you advance the more they connect. Very well written, easy to read, good storytelling. Loved it!

ratthew86's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes