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falconerreader's review against another edition
2.0
What the hell did I just read? I kept waiting for it to start to make sense, but I never became enlightened about their world and how and why it works. Still, fascinating and compelling in a dream-like way.
lukeisthename34's review against another edition
5.0
Original and haunting. A rich world that is confusing by our standards but has it's own logical progression.
adeleemma's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
3.5
Weird but entertaining. Was going to be a 4/5 but I didn't like the ending, it felt a bit rushed. Let's see if the sequel explains more.
kayymwil's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
mynameismarines's review against another edition
4.0
Even before writing a word here, I changed the rating from 3 to 4 stars, back and back again. It's difficult to rate this because it was entertaining and imaginative and well drawn and had some lines of just lovely writing, but at the end of the day, it doesn't make a lot of sense. BUT! It purposefully doesn't make a lot of sense. It really depends if that kind of thing is your jam.
I found myself going back of the book blurb for clarification as I read, flipping back a bit, just to remind myself what the premise was and making sure I hadn't missed anything. The entire way through the story, the world was really my focus because it's just so strange. It's a world where the parents are child-made machines and it rains knives and people know their death days. I read on waiting for the thing that made it all click and make sense, but SPOILER: it doesn't happen. There are missing pieces of the story and it stops this world from coming into focus. That is truly why you exit the story thinking, "what the hell did I just read?"
If you pluck the plot a little out of the world, things make a bit more sense. Scarper is just a "normal" dude with a great dad and school friends who just happens to be dying soon, as his graduation approaches. He teams up with some weird kids at school and together they set off an adventure to find Scaper's dad. The questions that they ask throughout their journey are also not answered, but they are more easily swallowed. These are the philosophical questions of The Motherless Oven, about whether we make or are made. About what it means to be alive and if being alive and living are the same. These kids run from the relative safety of their reality, all the while time is on their tail. Time shows up in the form of some police in cars that literally tick-tock.
The end was a gut punch. [spoiler] We're told nothing is on the other side. Nothing is beyond death, perhaps, or maybe that you can't escape the system you are in, the circular history and such. Scarier stands on fence so close and then gets knocked out just before he jumps. And then the book ends with the blackness that was promised and that's all. [/spoiler]
You won't understand a portion of this book. But it's oddly entrancing and attractive. If you go into it with the mentality, "this will be weird," or if you like weird things, this is definitely that. It's something that would be fun to read with others, or even multiple times to see if there is more you can pick out and project meaning onto. I mean, just while writing this I remembered the lions keeping the kids in school and the general message of parents kind of wearing into the ground, or of losing identity once their children are gone. On and on it goes.
I found myself going back of the book blurb for clarification as I read, flipping back a bit, just to remind myself what the premise was and making sure I hadn't missed anything. The entire way through the story, the world was really my focus because it's just so strange. It's a world where the parents are child-made machines and it rains knives and people know their death days. I read on waiting for the thing that made it all click and make sense, but SPOILER: it doesn't happen. There are missing pieces of the story and it stops this world from coming into focus. That is truly why you exit the story thinking, "what the hell did I just read?"
If you pluck the plot a little out of the world, things make a bit more sense. Scarper is just a "normal" dude with a great dad and school friends who just happens to be dying soon, as his graduation approaches. He teams up with some weird kids at school and together they set off an adventure to find Scaper's dad. The questions that they ask throughout their journey are also not answered, but they are more easily swallowed. These are the philosophical questions of The Motherless Oven, about whether we make or are made. About what it means to be alive and if being alive and living are the same. These kids run from the relative safety of their reality, all the while time is on their tail. Time shows up in the form of some police in cars that literally tick-tock.
The end was a gut punch. [spoiler] We're told nothing is on the other side. Nothing is beyond death, perhaps, or maybe that you can't escape the system you are in, the circular history and such. Scarier stands on fence so close and then gets knocked out just before he jumps. And then the book ends with the blackness that was promised and that's all. [/spoiler]
You won't understand a portion of this book. But it's oddly entrancing and attractive. If you go into it with the mentality, "this will be weird," or if you like weird things, this is definitely that. It's something that would be fun to read with others, or even multiple times to see if there is more you can pick out and project meaning onto. I mean, just while writing this I remembered the lions keeping the kids in school and the general message of parents kind of wearing into the ground, or of losing identity once their children are gone. On and on it goes.
theghostiam's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.75
Great art style. Such an interesting world, I loved exploring it
ohmanbleh's review against another edition
3.0
The characters are a bit thin, the plot doesn't really go anywhere, and highschool (even bizarro-highschool) is a bit unappealing to me.
The payoff here is the artwork and the strange world - where it rains knives, time and history are circular, household appliances are living deities, everyone's parents are machines of their own creation, and authority figures are all horror-show takes on elderly british royalty. At first, I thought it was a bit much - just weirdness for its own sake. But gradually the strange allegories do weave into something more satisfying.
My take-away quote: "Truants like you should understand art. The way to free yourself from any system of control is to do something useless. But do it as well as you can! That's what really does their heads in!"
The payoff here is the artwork and the strange world - where it rains knives, time and history are circular, household appliances are living deities, everyone's parents are machines of their own creation, and authority figures are all horror-show takes on elderly british royalty. At first, I thought it was a bit much - just weirdness for its own sake. But gradually the strange allegories do weave into something more satisfying.
My take-away quote: "Truants like you should understand art. The way to free yourself from any system of control is to do something useless. But do it as well as you can! That's what really does their heads in!"
cosimareads's review against another edition
2.0
This book built such an interesting world but didn't seem to do much with it. It feels like it did not live up to its potential. There weren't any deeper meanings or answers uncovered. Everything stayed quite surface-level. We'll see if the sequels go deeper...
eiriee's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very surreal world. The story is somewhat about the inescapabilty of fate and somewhat about what truly matters and somewhat about how people hurt each other and somewhat about friendship.