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catbag's review against another edition
eye simply did not like the vibes
i also did not know about the trigger warnings so in the first ummm like ten pages i got ~triggered~ and the book was ruuiiiinedddd
so that’s my bad ! one day i might come back to it
i also did not know about the trigger warnings so in the first ummm like ten pages i got ~triggered~ and the book was ruuiiiinedddd
so that’s my bad ! one day i might come back to it
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content
goodolnicole's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, War, Domestic abuse, and Death
Minor: Islamophobia, Medical content, and Murder
unboxedjack's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Animal death, Death, War, Violence, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Physical abuse, Medical trauma, and Murder
Minor: Medical content
belladonnashrike's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.75
very late at night so quick review: absolutely loved this book! i’m not too fond of the subject of war when reading, but I thoroughly enjoyed natalia’s journey to understanding her grandfather’s life. his past was beautifully written and I was very drawn to the magical characters - the deathless man, the tiger, and the tigers wife. also loved how some of it was written from the animals’ perspectives, it really transformed the storytelling (and I was very emotionally attached to the tiger and his wife!)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Chronic illness, Medical content, and War
annemaries_shelves's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I've been wanting to read this book since it was published 10 years ago and I'm so glad I finally did.
Obreht is a talented writer at such a young age when she released this and she has a real gift for story-telling. As a dual timeline/narrative, it's often tricky to keep my attention for both timelines, and she held it. We're following our narrator, Natalia who has found out her beloved grandfather has died. Over the years they've grown apart, only to renew their bonds in the last year of his life, hiding his illness from the family. Both medical doctors, they've been shaped by the wars of their unnamed Balkan country, and what it means to practice medicine and hope and fear for their patients. Natalia is sharing two key stories that shaped her grandfather's life as a child and young man - that of the deathless man and the tiger's wife.
I've heard some ascribe magical realism as a genre/writing device to this novel - to me it's not quite accurate. The Tiger's Wife is much more steeped in mythology and folklore and how stories shape our lives and understandings of the world and our place in them. Whether or not the deathless man is the nephew of Death or the tiger's wife was in fact having a relationship with a tiger-human, is moot. What's more important is what those stories say about ourselves, our communities, our spirituality, and our cultures. The themes of death, war, hope, family, and others were really well explored. On the surface level, it's a historical novel without a specific history (the closest being a reference to the former Yugoslavia) and great writing. Below the surface, it has wonderful layers and open-ended stories and complex characters.
The first of two main critiques is I felt this book could've used another 25-50 pages to wrap up the ending. It's slightly too sudden for how deep and thoughtful this book became. The second is the handling of the tiger's wife. She's a deaf-mute teenage girl (and married since 13 because it was the 1940s rural Balkans) who's living with a man who, because of his life circumstances, became violent. On one hand, I understand that not having her point of view was a way to reinforce the 'mysticism' and mythology/folklore elements she gave to the novel (she very much functioned as a source of rumour, frustration, village myth). But on the other, it felt like she lacked agency and a voice of her own. We heard the grandfather's, the blacksmith's, the butcher's (aka her abuser) and other's perspectives in the 'past' sections, but I felt the novel was missing her perspective.
Overall, I really liked this novel - it's well written, thoughtful, and engaging. I'm excited to read whatever else Obreht puts out.
CW: disability and ableism, domestic violence, death, murder, war (including bombing), medical-related scenes/descriptions, animal death.
Obreht is a talented writer at such a young age when she released this and she has a real gift for story-telling. As a dual timeline/narrative, it's often tricky to keep my attention for both timelines, and she held it. We're following our narrator, Natalia who has found out her beloved grandfather has died. Over the years they've grown apart, only to renew their bonds in the last year of his life, hiding his illness from the family. Both medical doctors, they've been shaped by the wars of their unnamed Balkan country, and what it means to practice medicine and hope and fear for their patients. Natalia is sharing two key stories that shaped her grandfather's life as a child and young man - that of the deathless man and the tiger's wife.
I've heard some ascribe magical realism as a genre/writing device to this novel - to me it's not quite accurate. The Tiger's Wife is much more steeped in mythology and folklore and how stories shape our lives and understandings of the world and our place in them. Whether or not the deathless man is the nephew of Death or the tiger's wife was in fact having a relationship with a tiger-human, is moot. What's more important is what those stories say about ourselves, our communities, our spirituality, and our cultures. The themes of death, war, hope, family, and others were really well explored. On the surface level, it's a historical novel without a specific history (the closest being a reference to the former Yugoslavia) and great writing. Below the surface, it has wonderful layers and open-ended stories and complex characters.
The first of two main critiques is I felt this book could've used another 25-50 pages to wrap up the ending. It's slightly too sudden for how deep and thoughtful this book became. The second is the handling of the tiger's wife. She's a deaf-mute teenage girl (and married since 13 because it was the 1940s rural Balkans) who's living with a man who, because of his life circumstances, became violent. On one hand, I understand that not having her point of view was a way to reinforce the 'mysticism' and mythology/folklore elements she gave to the novel (she very much functioned as a source of rumour, frustration, village myth). But on the other, it felt like she lacked agency and a voice of her own. We heard the grandfather's, the blacksmith's, the butcher's (aka her abuser) and other's perspectives in the 'past' sections, but I felt the novel was missing her perspective.
Overall, I really liked this novel - it's well written, thoughtful, and engaging. I'm excited to read whatever else Obreht puts out.
CW: disability and ableism, domestic violence, death, murder, war (including bombing), medical-related scenes/descriptions, animal death.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Medical content, and Medical trauma
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