Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - The Essex Serpent

This one is a bit of a mystery for me. I read the audiobook, and often caught my mind wandering while listening. Usually if this happens, it's a sign that I'm not enjoying the book, but not so with the Essex Serpent. The pace is very slow, to be sure, and the plot and POV are constantly drifting and meandering, kind of like how I imagine Cora to be while on her long walks. Maybe that's what I enjoyed about this: the prose matched the setting and atmosphere so perfectly. It was almost like a meditation, where it's ok if you get off track or space out a little, as long as you just keep coming back.

Another thing that I enjoyed about this is that it read as including subtle but solidly affirming representation of LGBTQIA+ identities, disability, and neurodiversity. While i wouldn't say that there is direct or overt engagement with these identities, there were several characters who clearly identified as "queer" in the sense of being out of step with mainstream social expectations of the time. What was so lovely about these characters is that they found one another and formed an inclusive community in which they could live and be supported and loved not just in spite of, but because of the traits that made them "quirky" or "misfits" in other contexts. Things i noticed included possible autism spectrum, lesbian, gay, asexual, aromamtic, and polyamory. But again, nothing overtly identified, which only read as more authentic to the setting.

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nicoleisalwaysreading's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I read this one in obsessive fits - almost breathlessly in two days, through the night and past dawn. My favorite part was reading it as the night shifted into morning and a thunder storm shook my apartment and rain hit the paved walkway just outside my window (isn’t that just the best thing you’ve ever heard? the drama!)

This is the best book I’ve read in a very long time. There are so many layers, things seething under the surface, no obvious metaphors, only complexity. It feels masterful and it’s unsettling and absolutely beautiful and when I finished I actually gasped and that turned into a cough (again, the DRAMA)

I already can’t wait to re-read this. Thank you Goodreads for a copy of this one; I was truly overjoyed when I saw I had won a giveaway for a book I had been wanting to read for a long time.

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strabbyfieldz's review

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

some parts of this book made me want to cry because I had no other way to express how I feel, it was such a strange overwhelming feeling of connection to an idea to a person to a theme that it hurt in a way. but then other parts jarred with me, especially spencer's plot line... why did the book frame him becoming a landlord as a good thing??? also idk something about Francis and his narrative felt strange in that he only really came into focus at the end. BUT that being said I got so absorbed that my eyes now sting from reading for like 3 hrs lol

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innerweststreetlibrarian's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This feels less like a novel and more like an observation of the intersecting lives of the characters over a period of time. The presence and fear of the serpent is pervasive, it changes people’s behaviour and impacts the way they live their lives. The writing is excellent, the narrative interesting enough to be unpredictable and it held my attention, but not engrossing enough to read it fast. I could have happily read a chapter a month and kept pace with the passage of time.

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rosedepines's review

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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alex_k99's review

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challenging funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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