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askxtine's review against another edition
4.75
This book is a bit like an M Night Shyamalan movie. For a book about love it's pretty bleak and cold and hopeless. I almost gave up on it. But those last 100 pages! All the pieces come together, and I found myself holding my breath... Hoping.... Pushing the characters. There's some really beautiful writing, and slow, careful world building, a bit of magic (or faith) too.
siobhmca's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rieviolet's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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? Yes
2.5
I've read two other books by Niall Williams, This Is Happiness and History of the Rain, and both of them were 5-star reads for me, so you can imagine what kind of expectations I had when starting this novel. Well, it turned out to be a great disappointment.
I cannot fault the writing style, Williams has a magical way of putting words together on a page. The descriptions of nature were top-notch.
Sadly, everything else was just a let-down.
I couldn't connect with the characters and I didn't like the story. I thought that it might get better but it just kept taking twists and turns that only deepened my dislike.
I also struggled more than usual with the religious tones of the story, above all, the idea that life is nothing but a fixed path decided by a deity up above. It just drove me up the wall! Especially as we saw characters actively making choices and thus bringing misery to themselves and to others. It was particularly hard to wrap my mind around Nicholas's mother's storyline, what I was supposed to take out of it?
I cannot fault the writing style, Williams has a magical way of putting words together on a page. The descriptions of nature were top-notch.
Sadly, everything else was just a let-down.
I couldn't connect with the characters and I didn't like the story. I thought that it might get better but it just kept taking twists and turns that only deepened my dislike.
I also struggled more than usual with the religious tones of the story, above all, the idea that life is nothing but a fixed path decided by a deity up above. It just drove me up the wall! Especially as we saw characters actively making choices and thus bringing misery to themselves and to others. It was particularly hard to wrap my mind around Nicholas's mother's storyline, what I was supposed to take out of it?
There were some otherworldly scenes that were just too much (especially the ones with Nicholas in the throes of his passion/obsession for Isabel), they felt like a horrible fever dream that I was unfortunate enough to have to experience.
I also didn't like how the narrative was structured: so much of it is a prelude to this supposedly rare and beautiful love story but, in the end, we never get to see it, it just happens out of nowhere and we never really delve into its blossoming and growing, we only catch glimpses of it through short flashbacks or characters's words. Maybe that's a precise authorial intention but, personally, it felt just like a overly dragging set-up, with not enough of a payoff.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Grief
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Infidelity, Vomit, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, and Suicide
Minor: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Animal death, and Cancer
clare_tan_wenhui's review against another edition
4.0
A beautiful love story about love's romantic form, when it is on the brink of realisation. Perhaps as the author has pointed out, the essence of the story is in its process, not its ending. This oddly mirrors the reading process, when one starts out pretty clueless about where the love is headed, then an inkling appears, growing into something much larger and wondrous, such that you finally understand any definition conclusion would be its final undoing.
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
4.25
Four Letters of Love is the interleaved stories of Nicholas and Isabel, their families and unconventional upbringings, and the way their lives came together - something both poetry and painting had a role in. Faith, fate, and more than a touch of magical realism, all play a prominent role in this story and they are not favourites of mine. Yet, I loved this book thanks especially to its sublime writing and depth of storytelling. I appreciated the portrayal of the natural environment. Ireland, especially wild Ireland, was very much a character in this novel. This story features tragedy, regret, rebellion, redemption, characters you are fully invested in, plus, most especially, love of all kinds. For me this book had that special, undefinable x factor.
bethreadsandnaps's review against another edition
3.5
Beautifully written, yet I think I needed more than beautiful writing to keep me interested. There were a lot of sluggish parts, and this novel is oh so quiet. People suffering in silence with little outward character dialogue or emoting of any kind is tough for me. Isabel and Nicholas live a distance from one another, and they both have a certain amount of upheaval in their lives that will keep them apart for most of the novel. Will love conquer all?
olivia76's review against another edition
5.0
This is my favorite book ever. Isn't that a big statement? My RS book club is reading it so I need to reread it. I'm excited to see if I can still claim it to be my favorite. I last read it in London with my girl-pal emo, so it's been a while.
kateriv's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
3.75
I would need to read it again to get a more full understanding, because once I got to the end I forgot the chapters about the stories of the parents (which also could’ve been clearer). But ultimately love the theme of Fate, enjoyed the poetic writing of it all