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melissa_b_67's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
August Blue was a quick read for me. I listened to it on audio and enjoyed the narrator.
In this beautifully written novel we are dropped into Elsa's life, a former piano prodigy who was adopted and raised by her piano teacher at a young age. We meet Elsa when her career has taken a turn for the worse and the Covid pandemic is in full swing.
At its heart, this is a story about discovering and embracing one's identity. The entire story felt almost dreamlike to me. I was often lost, in a good way, in the author's beautifully written prose and the narrator's soothing voice.
I am still not quite certain why the author decided to include the Covid pandemic as an element of the story. It gave us a time stamp, but in my opinion did not elevate the narrative. Part of that might be my own resistance to reading stories that take place within the pandemic. For me, not enough time has passed, so that I can enjoy a story set in pandemic times. More distance from this time period may have resulted in a different feelings for me.
Overall, l did enjoy this short novel. The last sentence brought it all together for me and made me feel August Blue was worth my time.
In this beautifully written novel we are dropped into Elsa's life, a former piano prodigy who was adopted and raised by her piano teacher at a young age. We meet Elsa when her career has taken a turn for the worse and the Covid pandemic is in full swing.
At its heart, this is a story about discovering and embracing one's identity. The entire story felt almost dreamlike to me. I was often lost, in a good way, in the author's beautifully written prose and the narrator's soothing voice.
I am still not quite certain why the author decided to include the Covid pandemic as an element of the story. It gave us a time stamp, but in my opinion did not elevate the narrative. Part of that might be my own resistance to reading stories that take place within the pandemic. For me, not enough time has passed, so that I can enjoy a story set in pandemic times. More distance from this time period may have resulted in a different feelings for me.
Overall, l did enjoy this short novel. The last sentence brought it all together for me and made me feel August Blue was worth my time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Abandonment, Death, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Vomit
Moderate: Bullying and Medical content
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