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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It deserves every award it received. Purge your ghosts. Read this book.
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really interesting and weird at the same time. Set in modern times, but at times it felt like a hundred years ago. Great love in the story mixed with horrible neglect & abuse. Realism mixed with the supernatural. Again interesting and weird.
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There are moments in this novel that are just about better than anything. For example, the opening of the novel is mesmerizing and brilliant and so real, so deep inside your brain and heart, that it's a wonder to read.
That being said, the novel as a whole is less than the sum of its parts. There are a lot of brilliant moments peppered throughout the novel, but the novel, as a whole, is mostly a snapshot of lives burdened by inherited trauma and the hell of their own making. It's about children trying their best to grow up, about grandparents trying their best to care for their grandchildren, and a drug addicted mother so haunted by her own life that she's torturing her own family.
So in some ways it's a near perfect book, but the whole thing gives me more emptiness than fullness, if you get me. Not that it's pessimistic, but more that what it's trying to say is actually not very much. If this novel wasn't written so well, I'd probably give it a one or two, but Ward's skill is creating moments so real and vivid that you become haunted by your own life, and not just the lives of the characters.
That being said, the novel as a whole is less than the sum of its parts. There are a lot of brilliant moments peppered throughout the novel, but the novel, as a whole, is mostly a snapshot of lives burdened by inherited trauma and the hell of their own making. It's about children trying their best to grow up, about grandparents trying their best to care for their grandchildren, and a drug addicted mother so haunted by her own life that she's torturing her own family.
So in some ways it's a near perfect book, but the whole thing gives me more emptiness than fullness, if you get me. Not that it's pessimistic, but more that what it's trying to say is actually not very much. If this novel wasn't written so well, I'd probably give it a one or two, but Ward's skill is creating moments so real and vivid that you become haunted by your own life, and not just the lives of the characters.
This was beautiful, somber, and also at times heartbreaking, raw, and brutal. Overall it was a great read.
beautifully written, incredible imagery, just not my style
OK, so this did improve for me when the ghosts showed up. Don’t read this book if you have a problem with vomit, because there is A LOT of vomit.
Hauntingly beautiful and written so vividly, it takes your breath away. You can see and feel what the characters see and feel...