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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I loved this book. The writing is wonderful and weighty and elegant. The story is delightful. And the characters! I gasped out loud, my skin went cold, I teared up... I was deeply invested. Were all the twists (especially that last big one) strictly necessary? No, but I forgive this book its few flaws and will be recommending it to people who love wonderful stories, especially about strong and brilliant women, for many years to come.
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is delicious. I couldn’t put it down; it’s 560 pages and I read it in two days (and I’m generally not a fast reader). It has the energy of a mystery novel while somehow exploring history, Judaism, feminism, philosophy, ultimately the meaning of life itself. Every character felt true to life and fully human, which is rare in a novel this broad. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-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:
Yes
Finding myself conflicted over this book, this rating is truly based on my gut feelings about it - I really liked it, though I wanted to love it.
After completing this book, I read several of the various reviews. Those with complaints of wordiness - it is, but that's usually a characteristic that I like in stories I read. Those with complaints of overwriting - it is, which is one of the biggest issues for me. There was *so much* going on that it was hard to keep it all straight - I think the story would have benefitted from some narrowing of the focus, or improved editing to allow for more thorough storytelling of the multiple POVs (with each of their associated flashbacks!)
While I have not read Possession, apparently this story reflects similar themes. On the other hand, the historical text mystery reminded me of Brooks' People of the Book - which I like a bit more I think.
My biggest frustration with this story was that it seems that none of the stories were actually completed - the book just ended. I blinked and there was the Author's Note (which was shorter and less detailed than I like in this type of story).
So, when all is said and done, I'll give it 4 stars, but again only because I really did like the story, despite some annoyances with the storytelling.
Rating 4/5 "really liked it"
23 hrs and 19 mins / 704 pages
Audiobook / Kindle
After completing this book, I read several of the various reviews. Those with complaints of wordiness - it is, but that's usually a characteristic that I like in stories I read. Those with complaints of overwriting - it is, which is one of the biggest issues for me. There was *so much* going on that it was hard to keep it all straight - I think the story would have benefitted from some narrowing of the focus, or improved editing to allow for more thorough storytelling of the multiple POVs (with each of their associated flashbacks!)
While I have not read Possession, apparently this story reflects similar themes. On the other hand, the historical text mystery reminded me of Brooks' People of the Book - which I like a bit more I think.
My biggest frustration with this story was that it seems that none of the stories were actually completed - the book just ended. I blinked and there was the Author's Note (which was shorter and less detailed than I like in this type of story).
So, when all is said and done, I'll give it 4 stars, but again only because I really did like the story, despite some annoyances with the storytelling.
Rating 4/5 "really liked it"
23 hrs and 19 mins / 704 pages
Audiobook / Kindle
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-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:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There was life in her. And desire. A flame leapt in her, defiant of the bounds in which she'd prisoned it. How could desire be wrong - the question seized her - if each living being contained it? Each creature was born with the unthinking need to draw each next breath, find each next meal. Mustn't desire then be integral - a set of essential guideposts on the map of life's purpose? And mightn't its very denial then be a desecration? The thoughts were heretical, and they were her own. (p 133)
For the first time she thought, I understand why we sleep. To slip the knot of the world. (p 368)
The greatest act of love - indeed, the only religion she could comprehend - was to speak the truth about the world. Love must be, then, an act of truth-telling, a baring of mind and spirit just as ardent as the baring of the body. Truth and passion were one, and each impossible without the other. (p 391)
He'd once believed in a plain, patent world, in which whatever was noteworthy cried out proudly for attention. Now he saw how readily the most essential things went unseen. (p 495)
The greatest curse, he thought, was to be stuck in one's own time - and the greatest power was to see beyond its horizons. Studying history had given him the illusion of observing safely from outside the trap. Only that's what the world was: a trap. The circumstances you were born to, the situations you found yourself in - to dodge that fray was impossible. And what you did within it was your life. Hadn't Helen tried to tell him so? (p 547)
For the first time she thought, I understand why we sleep. To slip the knot of the world. (p 368)
The greatest act of love - indeed, the only religion she could comprehend - was to speak the truth about the world. Love must be, then, an act of truth-telling, a baring of mind and spirit just as ardent as the baring of the body. Truth and passion were one, and each impossible without the other. (p 391)
He'd once believed in a plain, patent world, in which whatever was noteworthy cried out proudly for attention. Now he saw how readily the most essential things went unseen. (p 495)
The greatest curse, he thought, was to be stuck in one's own time - and the greatest power was to see beyond its horizons. Studying history had given him the illusion of observing safely from outside the trap. Only that's what the world was: a trap. The circumstances you were born to, the situations you found yourself in - to dodge that fray was impossible. And what you did within it was your life. Hadn't Helen tried to tell him so? (p 547)