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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a really unusual little book. It feels like a short story, feels like poetry, feels like the ramblings and then there’s the crow, who sometimes really doesn’t make sense. I read it slowly, and while I didn’t love the writing style (I’m not the biggest fan of poetry or fragmented narration), I can’t deny that some parts really hit me hard.
It didn’t make me cry, but it did make me sad, and it made me think about how grief isn’t linear, how it takes different shapes for different people, and how it’s okay to feel lost in it, even for a long time. I especially connected with the way the kids dealt with their mother’s death, those moments were so raw and real.
I didn’t connect with the book as deeply as I hoped to. It often felt too abstract and at times it walked the line of being a bit pretentious. But despite that, the overall experience left me with something meaningful. I appreciated what it was trying to say— that grief is messy, confusing, and very, very human.
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not a fan of this really. Didn't enjoy it as much as Shy. It didn't make me feel a huge amount, and I think Isaac and the Egg does the anthropomorphised-grief thing much much better.
Serieus onder de indruk van dit boekje. Het is kort, maar er zit zoveel in. Het is schitterend geschreven en deed me met momenten denken aan de gedichten van Paul van Ostaijen. Daarnaast vond ik het ongelofelijk hoe het rouwproces van deze vader en zijn zonen werd weergegeven. Heel knap gedaan. Ik ga het ongetwijfeld nog een keer lezen, omdat ik nu waarschijnlijk wel een paar details heb gemist.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I didn't like it at all up until I did. There were passages that genuinely moved me. The ending made me cry. But there were a lot of passages that either went over my head or that I just didn't get into at all. I wanted to like it much more than I actually did.
I know absolutely nothing about Ted Hughes' poetry, though, and I imagine that's at least some of the reason why I couldn't dig it.
I know absolutely nothing about Ted Hughes' poetry, though, and I imagine that's at least some of the reason why I couldn't dig it.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Magnificent. Razor sharp grief and a gently humorous allegory.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
i will be honest im not sure im a poetry girl. i’m just a little too smooth brained to really get all the messaging and patterns. so there very well could be some explosive, earth-shattering theme here that i missed because im not used to poetry and we should acknowledge that.
with that being said, porter writes a compelling story about grief and how you never really truly stop grieving. the metaphor of the crow is really interesting- i understand the choice of the crow but i also felt like the dialogue of the crow was really random and nonsensical. perhaps that was the point? i feel like im missing something because i don’t know why that was the point go yknow what go off.
the POVs flip flop between the crow, dad, and sons. it’s a short book so the constant flipping gets to be a lot and i feel like i don’t spend enough time with any character and it got hard to keep track of what storyline was with who- even then there was hardly much storyline for any.
i did find there to be some really poignant lines and messaging regarding grief- there was a point that described all of the things that the deceased wife would never finish (books, makeup, lotion) and that really stuck with me, and i almost wish there was more of that. it’s an interesting and authentic take of grief, but i think the poetry of the end took over too much for me, so it kinda just felt like it ended abruptly. i can appreciate this novel, but i know it’s not for me.