Reviews

Birnamin metsä by Eleanor Catton

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ajokayokay's review against another edition

5.0

absolutely brilliant, prescient, aware, enthralling. birnam wood took everything i love about character-focused books and paired it with a sharp plot, flawless organization, and masterful composition.

rkragsdale's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

i feel like this book mirrors society as a whole in a smaller format, ie the birnam wood group and associates. wild ending, didn't expect it at all.

lnetzel's review against another edition

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4.0

The Atlantic’s top 10 books of 2023 recommended this book. It is a suspense type novel that develops slowly but still kept me quite engaged. So not a “page turner, can’t wait to get home to read” type of book but one where I did look forward to reading at night. About 2/3 of the way in though, it did become a must read. The first part of the book sets up the various relationships and personalities of the main characters, including one psychopath. Then ending was a surprise and required some gimicks by the author-some unbelievable aspects to the story.

lclarotto's review against another edition

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5.0

Fantastic writing, compelling plot. Catton’s ability to write different rich, complex characters is, at times, astounding. One of the best books I’ve read in a while.

suznbaldwin's review against another edition

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1.0

I didn’t finish it (DNF as the kids say). Didn’t want to know more about a billionaire with quirks ruining the earth and humanity.

heathere19's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

this was a very slow week burn for me. I finished it out of respect for another book club member who chose it. there were parts that were great and interesting to read, but it was very inconsistent. I didn't understand what was going on until section 2. and there are only 3 sections total in the entire book and absolutely no chapters... so it was hard to find a stopping point. the ending was pretty ambiguous too but not in a great way. it's a thriller but more character driven than plot.