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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A great expose on grief and the chaos and turmoil of recovering. The crow is one of my favorite characters in recent literature I’ve read. Seriously hilarious, but somehow hilariously serious.
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
When I first heard about Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, I was immediately intrigued by its premise—and a little surprised by how short it is. I’ve always been drawn to experimental plotlines and writing styles in novels. There's something exhilarating about the unknown, about how a book can break all the rules and still somehow make sense. But this book reminded me of something important: for every experimental book I fall in love with, there's always a bigger miss. Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me.
The central concept—grief—is simple and relatable, and I do appreciate how the story explores it through multiple perspectives. We get glimpses into the minds of both the father and his sons, each dealing with their loss in their own unique ways, while still coming together. I liked that part. But where I started to lose interest was the crow’s point of view. I get that this was a stylistic choice, meant to reflect the crow’s role in the story, its eccentric mannerisms, and its odd presence. But, honestly, I just found it confusing. Instead of being an intriguing layer to the narrative, it felt more like I was stumbling through a fog, struggling to understand what the crow was even trying to say. In this instance, I quickly got over the quirkiness of it all and became irritated that I had to keep reading his passafes.
Additionally, I understand the appeal of novellas—they’re short, punchy, and leave you with a lot to think about in a little bit of time. But in this case, I felt like the brevity of the book worked against it. It felt too short to really do justice to the weighty themes of grief and loss. I ended up in a dilemma, feeling like the book could be longer, so it could flesh out those ideas more fully, yet simultaneously shorter, so I could be done with it already. I mean, for such a short book, I reached the end feeling strangely relieved that it was over and knowing it wasn’t a book I would come back to. It’s already shaping up to be one of my least favorite reads of the year.
Despite this, I’m not giving up on experimental writing just yet. Some of the best and most unique books I've read fall into that category. Sadly, this one just didn’t land for me.
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
A wonderful and poetically written book about grief and loss.
Very interesting structure with, poetic and sometimes random, more like random thoughts popping into existence.
The narrative felt somewhat unstuck from time - it was rarely clear how much time passed and the order of the time passing, which was a really good way of writing about grief, I think, becoming unmoored..
Very interesting structure with, poetic and sometimes random, more like random thoughts popping into existence.
The narrative felt somewhat unstuck from time - it was rarely clear how much time passed and the order of the time passing, which was a really good way of writing about grief, I think, becoming unmoored..
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The secret with this, as with poetry, is that there are two ways to read it.
The first - analyse. Chase down references. Make marginal annotations. Consider. Critique.
I tried that, but for me it failed - perhaps because I've read too little of Ted Hughes.
The second - just let it was over you.
Once I started on that path, the book came together, with even my limited experience of loss.
The first - analyse. Chase down references. Make marginal annotations. Consider. Critique.
I tried that, but for me it failed - perhaps because I've read too little of Ted Hughes.
The second - just let it was over you.
Once I started on that path, the book came together, with even my limited experience of loss.
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Listened to this while DRIVING like a complete moron 😭
All is fine though. Will need to read with my eyes instead of my ears to write more comprehensive thoughts beyond: oof, great pain, written well, too relatable for comfort.
Will also mention: the audiobook performance is an EXPERIENCE you should have if you enjoy this book.
All is fine though. Will need to read with my eyes instead of my ears to write more comprehensive thoughts beyond: oof, great pain, written well, too relatable for comfort.
Will also mention: the audiobook performance is an EXPERIENCE you should have if you enjoy this book.
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes