Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable by Mark Dunn

6 reviews

redheadorganist's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcoholism and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death and Confinement

michaelion's review against another edition

challenging funny informative inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

What an amazing and PERFECT book!!! I was imagining the book being taught in English classes and how this would've made me so excited to read. I was so excited to read it at 24 years old, I read it without the audiobook! What a cool challenge to have kids try to write without certain letters! The history of the island is also interesting too, which meant for students learning bigger, more archaic words! I knew I was gonna give it 5 stars before I was 25 pages in. 

It's also a good representation of so many things kids will encounter as they get older. Idol worship / fanaticism / religious cults, fascism and political activism against it. What a perfect book! What a perfect book!!!

Unrelated to the book, whenever I get a new pen I always tested it by writing "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog." I find out IMMEDIATELY I've been writing the sentence wrong FOR YEARS!!!!! I know there was a time when I wrote it right! What happened!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Religious bigotry, Bullying, and Police brutality

Moderate: Death, Violence, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Self harm, Death of parent, Deportation, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Pandemic/Epidemic, Abandonment, Grief, Ableism, and Murder

Minor: Gaslighting, Racial slurs, and Misogyny

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective fast-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? Yes

4.5

I have heard nothing but praise for this book, and I’m happy to say it certainly met my expectations!! In equal measure heartwarming & funny as it is horrifyingly relevant, this is a quick read that paints an unfortunately believable picture of censorship and the slippery slope to totalitarianism. Reminds us of how important language, community, and our freedoms truly are.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Confinement, Xenophobia, Violence, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, and Death

Minor: Suicide attempt

mlwe's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

Summary:
There are 26 letters in the English alphabet. How often do you use all of them? What would you do if you couldn't?

The citizens on the island of Nollop, named after the author of "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy brown dog," must confront this very issue. The alphabet monument honoring Nollop is crumbling apart, which the Council interprets as a command of the cessations and censoring of the island's letters. Thus, any citizen found to be using these graphemes will be exiled or executed. However, not everyone agrees with this divine interpretation of an old structure, and community ties begin to resemble the dilapidated signage. Factions form. Fear begins crumbling the Nollopian's futures. Hope feels lost unless the citizens can unite and resist the oppressive regime that has overtaken their land, life, and language.

My Thoughts:
Definitely not the fairy tale I was expecting! I was thrown by some of the darker themes the novel tackles and the stark parallels to modern society. I'd probably benefit from a reread, as the plot was quite clever and interesting to follow. The characters were fun to meet, and I enjoyed seeing the different perspectives on the events unfolding in Nollop. However, as it is an epistolary novel, it could be difficult to identify which character was narrating without turning to the signature at the end of the letter. I got some spoilers flipping back and forth, but enjoyed having small, succinct 'chapters' to piece together and pace myself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism and Confinement

Moderate: Death, Abandonment, Murder, and Death of parent

Minor: Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Oppressive Regimes, Social Isolation

qrschulte's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

This book had an interesting premise, but the focus on staying true to the “joke” of the book about letters being removed from a society’s vocabulary being told through letters (epistolary), was a bit much in my opinion. The characters weren’t that compelling, and a whole lot of nothing happened for it all to get resolved real quick in the last 20 pages (which incidentally were pretty blank).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Self harm, and Deportation

Moderate: Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Confinement

sonlight21's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

This book is an interesting little story. It presents its self as a funny lighthearted tale that very quickly unravels into despair and disaster. Truly a very interesting look at our language and even culture. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Murder, Police brutality, Classism, and Abandonment