Scan barcode
mctmama's review
5.0
I loved this book - The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner is definitely one of the best books I've read this year. The book chronicles the story of Cordelia King, the heir apparent to her father's lobster boating business. The King family has been fishing lobster off the cost of Loosewood Island for three hundred years. They have been blessed with the bounty of the sea, but also cursed - each generation of the King family loses something very precious to them (won't spell it out - spoilers). Zentner weaves the legend of Brumfitt King, the first lobster fisherman who came to the island from Ireland. Brumfitt takes his wife "from the sea" and paints his families history, as well as journals. Cordelia is fascinated by the history and legend, particularly when it comes to Brumfitt's selkie wife. Most of the book focuses on Cordelia's modern day problems; her relationships with her father, sisters, and her growing attraction to her married sternman, Kenny. Things become even more complicated when inhabitants of a neighboring island get into drugs and poaching lobsters off of Loosewood waters. A wonderful chronicle of tight-knit family and community that I found wholly believable.
pearseanderson's review against another edition
3.0
Sorry Zentner, I got halfway through Lobster Kings and I wasn't feeling pulled along by this novel. I was trying to be taken in by the sea and the tides but it wasn't sticking. I thought: why continue a book I'm having to slog through? So I stopped. Great setting, great setting details and explanation, but the structure and pacing were just off for me. I could see it as a series, kind of like Bloodline.
bobbytrucktricks's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the first half, maybe three quarters well enough, but the later parts started to lose me and the end was pretty corny and contrived. I really liked Touch so this was a let down. Looking back, there was a real lack of character development and meaningful consequences for what should have been very significant actions
drewsof's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 out of 5. Zentner's prose flows so easily that I defy a reader not to be wrapped up in the story within a few pages, even if it doesn't seem like their cup of tea. He keeps just to one side of magical realism, instead aiming for the other 'm' word: myth. And how better to tip the hat to King Lear and to Shakespeare and other greats (Melville certainly had some influence here too) than to acknowledge the way we (meaning humanity) create and adapt stories and legends and people? I wish the Kings Family good fishing and happy days - and the same to anybody with the sort of family who inspires myths, too.
More TK from RB:
More TK from RB:
jlrmac's review against another edition
4.0
Audio version is very good-nicely done, kept my attention, real characters. I almost didn't stay with this because the beginning have me the impression it was a fantasy, entwined with mythical creatures. I am glad I stuck with it because the characters and plot were engaging!
timshel's review against another edition
4.0
The Lobster Kings is an imaginative tale full of magic and atmosphere. Although it bogs down a bit in the middle, the beginning and ending of the story are wonderfully storied and paced. With its mythos tied up in the family saga of the Kings family, Zentner's second novel is one of the more interesting works to have been released this year.
The Lobster Kings starts wonderfully. Magic, thrills, and heartbreak are abundant for nearly one hundred pages. I loved the way this novel started. Then the pacing is thrown all off. Suddenly the reader is catapulted into the present; the girl I'd grown to love as a child was suddenly a grown woman. The jump in time was necessary to the story, but it was much too jarring for my tastes. I feel I hadn't really gotten all I wanted to get from young Cordelia. I wanted to see her grow a bit more. At this point, the story sagged a bit too much. While Zentner does a wonderful job painting the scenery, much of the story becomes about the island and the day-to-day routine of “lobstermen.” It was written well and all that, but the story was largely dry (that's not the right word for a story which takes place on the ocean).
The story picks up again in its conclusion and though nothing had gone the way I wanted it to in the beginning, I was able to find some of the threads that I had been following in the beginning of the story. Overall, I wish the tale had been a bit more riveting and magical, but I was by no means disappointed. I never really connected again with Cordelia or her family like I had in those opening pages, and I think this is the book's greatest fault. I loved the characters initially, but something about their aging disconnected me from them. After the jump in time, I never again felt like they were real. I'd hate to say they were flat, because they were very interesting characters, but they lacked the magic that surrounded them. I think the Kings were supposed to be a magical family, but the magic was in the island and their ancestry and in the waters.
Overall, The Lobster Kings is a good story. For a long time now I've been interested in reading Zentner's Touch—love the cover—but haven't gotten around to it. In fact, I've checked it out from the library on three separate occasions, but for whatever reason I always return it unread. This novel has sparked my interest in Zentner's first novel once again; I trust I'll find the magic there that was just out of reach in The Lobster Kings.
The Lobster Kings starts wonderfully. Magic, thrills, and heartbreak are abundant for nearly one hundred pages. I loved the way this novel started. Then the pacing is thrown all off. Suddenly the reader is catapulted into the present; the girl I'd grown to love as a child was suddenly a grown woman. The jump in time was necessary to the story, but it was much too jarring for my tastes. I feel I hadn't really gotten all I wanted to get from young Cordelia. I wanted to see her grow a bit more. At this point, the story sagged a bit too much. While Zentner does a wonderful job painting the scenery, much of the story becomes about the island and the day-to-day routine of “lobstermen.” It was written well and all that, but the story was largely dry (that's not the right word for a story which takes place on the ocean).
The story picks up again in its conclusion and though nothing had gone the way I wanted it to in the beginning, I was able to find some of the threads that I had been following in the beginning of the story. Overall, I wish the tale had been a bit more riveting and magical, but I was by no means disappointed. I never really connected again with Cordelia or her family like I had in those opening pages, and I think this is the book's greatest fault. I loved the characters initially, but something about their aging disconnected me from them. After the jump in time, I never again felt like they were real. I'd hate to say they were flat, because they were very interesting characters, but they lacked the magic that surrounded them. I think the Kings were supposed to be a magical family, but the magic was in the island and their ancestry and in the waters.
Overall, The Lobster Kings is a good story. For a long time now I've been interested in reading Zentner's Touch—love the cover—but haven't gotten around to it. In fact, I've checked it out from the library on three separate occasions, but for whatever reason I always return it unread. This novel has sparked my interest in Zentner's first novel once again; I trust I'll find the magic there that was just out of reach in The Lobster Kings.
samhouston's review against another edition
5.0
Alexi Zentner’s “The Lobster Kings,” an intriguing family saga told largely through the eyes of Cordelia Kings and Woody, her aging father, is so wonderfully constructed that readers will find it difficult to choose a stopping point between reading sessions.
Members of the King family have run things on Loosewood Island for almost three hundred years. It all started for the Kings when Brumfitt Kings made his way there from Ireland in 1720. Brumfitt would virtually live alone on Loosewood for eight years before he was rather mysteriously blessed by the arrival of his future wife. Their mythical marriage marked the beginning of a new American family that would, over time, become “the lobster kings” of the novel.
But now time is catching up with the Kings and, more importantly, it is catching up with the culture of the island itself. The island has become somewhat of a haven for drug smugglers and, perhaps even worse in the long run, lobstermen from a neighboring island have begun to encroach on Loosewood Island waters despite the gentleman’s agreement that had been peacefully in place for decades.
Woody, desperate to maintain the family’s hold on the island and to protect the only way of life they have ever known, does everything an old man can do to hold things together. But he is a man without a son to take the reins when his aging body begins to let him down, a weakness quickly recognized by those willing to fight Woody for what he considers his birthright. What Woody does have, however, is Cordelia, a daughter whom he sometimes tends to underrate as badly as his enemies underrate her.
“The Lobster Kings” is one of those stories that will leave readers thinking about its characters long after they have turned the book’s final page. The Kings might not be your typical American family, but the relationship between this father and daughter has plenty to teach the rest of us about life.
Don’t miss this one.
Members of the King family have run things on Loosewood Island for almost three hundred years. It all started for the Kings when Brumfitt Kings made his way there from Ireland in 1720. Brumfitt would virtually live alone on Loosewood for eight years before he was rather mysteriously blessed by the arrival of his future wife. Their mythical marriage marked the beginning of a new American family that would, over time, become “the lobster kings” of the novel.
But now time is catching up with the Kings and, more importantly, it is catching up with the culture of the island itself. The island has become somewhat of a haven for drug smugglers and, perhaps even worse in the long run, lobstermen from a neighboring island have begun to encroach on Loosewood Island waters despite the gentleman’s agreement that had been peacefully in place for decades.
Woody, desperate to maintain the family’s hold on the island and to protect the only way of life they have ever known, does everything an old man can do to hold things together. But he is a man without a son to take the reins when his aging body begins to let him down, a weakness quickly recognized by those willing to fight Woody for what he considers his birthright. What Woody does have, however, is Cordelia, a daughter whom he sometimes tends to underrate as badly as his enemies underrate her.
“The Lobster Kings” is one of those stories that will leave readers thinking about its characters long after they have turned the book’s final page. The Kings might not be your typical American family, but the relationship between this father and daughter has plenty to teach the rest of us about life.
Don’t miss this one.
bbnut45's review against another edition
1.0
Very slow.
SPOILER below:
No reason to kill an innocent dog. Immediate loss of interest and rating ding.
SPOILER below:
No reason to kill an innocent dog. Immediate loss of interest and rating ding.
terriep's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book. It tells the story of a lobster fishing family, their sibling and parental relationships, and even has a little touch of the mystical. Well written, a strong female main character, good dialog.....an enjoyable read.
jooniperd's review against another edition
4.0
26 april 14:
my thoughts are not really organized on how i feel about this novel yet. i found it interesting and evocative - at times i could feel and smell the cold, wet sea. early on in the story i was noticing issues that i will attribute to editing - information was repeated within a couple of paragraphs. this settled down in the second half of the book, but during the first bit, it was distracting. (i did read an ARC/uncorrected proof, so maybe this will change upon publication?) while i was quite engaged in the reading, and where the book was heading, i felt like i wanted a bit more from it. it felt a bit surface a lot of the time. so i will be mulling on this one for a bit. maybe my thinking will become more clear.
i do feel like this will be a great summer or vacation read for many people.
03 june 14:
i have had this story pop into my head a lot since reading it - it seems to have stuck with me, so i am bumping it up to 4-stars, from 3. :)
my thoughts are not really organized on how i feel about this novel yet. i found it interesting and evocative - at times i could feel and smell the cold, wet sea. early on in the story i was noticing issues that i will attribute to editing - information was repeated within a couple of paragraphs. this settled down in the second half of the book, but during the first bit, it was distracting. (i did read an ARC/uncorrected proof, so maybe this will change upon publication?) while i was quite engaged in the reading, and where the book was heading, i felt like i wanted a bit more from it. it felt a bit surface a lot of the time. so i will be mulling on this one for a bit. maybe my thinking will become more clear.
i do feel like this will be a great summer or vacation read for many people.
03 june 14:
i have had this story pop into my head a lot since reading it - it seems to have stuck with me, so i am bumping it up to 4-stars, from 3. :)
More...