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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
Grief And Guilt
The first thing to note about The Gloaming is that there are no good characters in this book. There are also no fully bad characters. Everyone you meet and spend any considerable amount of time with does good things, and also does bad things. Some of the good things are very good, and some of the bad things are horrendously bad. However, the more you learn about each person, the harder it is to either fully support them or fully push them away. Melanie Finn has, in this sense, crafted intensely human characters, each with their deep flaws and ambiguous morality. I believe the most powerful forces of the story are guilt and grief, and the choices each one leads these characters to make. The circumstances that drive the story are extreme in their violence and scope, but they all continue to ask pointed questions regarding these two previously mentioned emotions. Specifically, can anything you do ever atone for what has caused you to feel guilt? And how far can grief push someone? We spend time in the minds of several of these characters as the book continues, all responding to their grief and guilt in different ways. We learn the backgrounds and circumstances of each person, that while not defending any evil they have done, complicates a simple opinion of them that might have formed when we first met them.
The style of the writing is engrossing, and the people and the worlds built they inhabit envelope you. Despite the weight of the subjects at hand and the oftentimes shocking acts that are committed, the book moves quickly and pulls you along with it. Highly recommend
The first thing to note about The Gloaming is that there are no good characters in this book. There are also no fully bad characters. Everyone you meet and spend any considerable amount of time with does good things, and also does bad things. Some of the good things are very good, and some of the bad things are horrendously bad. However, the more you learn about each person, the harder it is to either fully support them or fully push them away. Melanie Finn has, in this sense, crafted intensely human characters, each with their deep flaws and ambiguous morality. I believe the most powerful forces of the story are guilt and grief, and the choices each one leads these characters to make. The circumstances that drive the story are extreme in their violence and scope, but they all continue to ask pointed questions regarding these two previously mentioned emotions. Specifically, can anything you do ever atone for what has caused you to feel guilt? And how far can grief push someone? We spend time in the minds of several of these characters as the book continues, all responding to their grief and guilt in different ways. We learn the backgrounds and circumstances of each person, that while not defending any evil they have done, complicates a simple opinion of them that might have formed when we first met them.
The style of the writing is engrossing, and the people and the worlds built they inhabit envelope you. Despite the weight of the subjects at hand and the oftentimes shocking acts that are committed, the book moves quickly and pulls you along with it. Highly recommend
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
The Gloaming is a strange book. It makes no bones about being strange, and the structure of competing timelines and deliberately confusing narratives adds to the confusion set forth in the story of a woman separated from her husband in a foreign land after his affair.
While this book didn’t work for me, there’s a lot to credit here in terms of what it was trying to do and how successful it was. Two Dollar Radio specializes in books that are definitely off the beaten path, and this book qualifies, but the structure and point was ultimately lost to me. You might have better luck with it than I.
While this book didn’t work for me, there’s a lot to credit here in terms of what it was trying to do and how successful it was. Two Dollar Radio specializes in books that are definitely off the beaten path, and this book qualifies, but the structure and point was ultimately lost to me. You might have better luck with it than I.
"Oh great," I thought, "another impossibly beautiful, incredibly vulnerable main character who the men in the book can't help falling in love with and the women can't help but hate (due to jealousy of course). During the first half of the book I alternated between eye-rolling and contemplating putting it down out of boredom; but then, the closer we draw towards the end, I realized that Melanie Finn knew what she was doing the whole time.
Some books wrap up so neatly you put them down and never give them a second thought, but this one had all the right endings for all the characters it needed to.
I can tell already I'll be thinking about Pilgrim at odd times for a long time to come. At this point, she feels like a friend who I've fallen out of touch with but want to do well, and I smile when I hear about her.
Some books wrap up so neatly you put them down and never give them a second thought, but this one had all the right endings for all the characters it needed to.
I can tell already I'll be thinking about Pilgrim at odd times for a long time to come. At this point, she feels like a friend who I've fallen out of touch with but want to do well, and I smile when I hear about her.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Why do horrible things happen? Things that shatter our sense of self and the world. How does loss change a person? How does it permeate our being and perpetuate cycles of violence? How do we ever find and hold onto hope in the face of each and every horrible thing?
I think this book asks and answers with these questions with exceptional prose and emotion. I felt it all reading this: horror, joy, dread, sorrow, I think I even laughed out loud at one point.
Fun fact: I read this book by accident. My dad recommended me a TV show with the same name. He is known for recommending me shows based on books, I'm known for reading the book and never watching the show. So, after he told me about the show I immediately looked up "The Gloaming book," not even considering there could be another book with the same title (in this case I think there are actually three).
I started the book the same day I got it in the mail and was instantly obsessed. I was about 100 pages in this Sunday when my dad asked me what I was up to. Approximately ninety confusing seconds later I realized this book has absolutely nothing to do with the show on Starz. This book taking place in Tanzania and the show in Tasmania and both having supernatural elements did little to help my smooth brain. But I am THRILLED to have read this book and will absolutely be petitioning for it to become a show.
I think this book asks and answers with these questions with exceptional prose and emotion. I felt it all reading this: horror, joy, dread, sorrow, I think I even laughed out loud at one point.
Fun fact: I read this book by accident. My dad recommended me a TV show with the same name. He is known for recommending me shows based on books, I'm known for reading the book and never watching the show. So, after he told me about the show I immediately looked up "The Gloaming book," not even considering there could be another book with the same title (in this case I think there are actually three).
I started the book the same day I got it in the mail and was instantly obsessed. I was about 100 pages in this Sunday when my dad asked me what I was up to. Approximately ninety confusing seconds later I realized this book has absolutely nothing to do with the show on Starz. This book taking place in Tanzania and the show in Tasmania and both having supernatural elements did little to help my smooth brain. But I am THRILLED to have read this book and will absolutely be petitioning for it to become a show.
This was really good in there beginning, then kind of lost me for the last 1/3 of the book.
this was such a good book i'm mad. imagine that, a white person in africa and it's not all about white people and the person who wrote it has actually lived there. amazing and complex characters dealing with unfathomable tragedy, a compelling mystery, and quasi-spiritual illusions made for a book i couldn't put down.
3.5 rounded up. Published by very small press Two Dollar Radio. They have a few quite interesting looking books.
Why do horrible things happen? Things that shatter our sense of self and the world. How does loss change a person? How does it permeate our being and perpetuate cycles of violence? How do we ever find and hold onto hope in the face of each and every horrible thing?
I think this book asks and answers with these questions with exceptional prose and emotion. I felt it all reading this: horror, joy, dread, sorrow, I think I even laughed out loud at one point.
Fun fact: I read this book by accident. My dad recommended me a TV show with the same name. He is known for recommending me shows based on books, I'm known for reading the book and never watching the show. So, after he told me about the show I immediately looked up "The Gloaming book," not even considering there could be another book with the same title (in this case I think there are actually three).
I started the book the same day I got it in the mail and was instantly obsessed. I was about 100 pages in this Sunday when my dad asked me what I was up to. Approximately ninety confusing seconds later I realized this book has absolutely nothing to do with the show on Starz. This book taking place in Tanzania and the show in Tasmania and both having supernatural elements did little to help my smooth brain. But I am THRILLED to have read this book and will absolutely be petitioning for it to become a show.
I think this book asks and answers with these questions with exceptional prose and emotion. I felt it all reading this: horror, joy, dread, sorrow, I think I even laughed out loud at one point.
Fun fact: I read this book by accident. My dad recommended me a TV show with the same name. He is known for recommending me shows based on books, I'm known for reading the book and never watching the show. So, after he told me about the show I immediately looked up "The Gloaming book," not even considering there could be another book with the same title (in this case I think there are actually three).
I started the book the same day I got it in the mail and was instantly obsessed. I was about 100 pages in this Sunday when my dad asked me what I was up to. Approximately ninety confusing seconds later I realized this book has absolutely nothing to do with the show on Starz. This book taking place in Tanzania and the show in Tasmania and both having supernatural elements did little to help my smooth brain. But I am THRILLED to have read this book and will absolutely be petitioning for it to become a show.