Reviews - The Overstory | The StoryGraph

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8.75k reviews for:

The Overstory

Richard Powers

4.14 AVERAGE

kirstihelena's review against another edition

2.25

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

yrock007's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

The book that makes you want to be reincarnated as a tree.

sarahmarck's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

themattacaster's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

ghravel's review against another edition

2.5

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

turtlebean's review against another edition

4.0

There were many points where it felt like "aahh this is TOO REAL/not fiction," in this book of capitalism vs nature. It broke my heart and I loved it.

Grateful to the book club for this selection (definitely wouldn't have picked up on my own).

I hope to look at trees with a great deal more awe and appreciation moving forward. Er, to SEE them, as Patricia would say. :)

schwartzreports's review against another edition

2.0

I know this review is about to reveal my true nature as an uncultured troglodyte, but I hated this book.

The story was at once too small and too grandiose. After spending so many pages giving us vignettes of so many characters, you would HOPE that the buildup would be worth it -- that when their lives inevitably intersect, it would be worth all the hundreds of pages of backstory. Well, it wasn't. Some of the plot points were kind of interesting, I guess, but mostly it was just trees trees trees. Talk about preachy! The facts about trees were cool, but the way they were told was just... I don't know how to describe it except to say that it all just rubbed me the wrong way. If I never read another florid passage about the majesty of an oak, it will be too soon.

Really did not enjoy this, hardly at all. I did like the bit about the "learners" who will eventually replace humans — they are to humans as humans are to trees — and I wish the author went into that part more deeply. It was by far one of the most interesting parts.

So yeah, I was going back and forth between the printed book and the audio book, and eventually I turned the audio book up to 2x speed in order to be done with it as soon as possible.

PS - Let this be a lesson to me to stay away from Pulitzer winners!! SO PREACHY.