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marissab's review
challenging
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Stalking, Toxic relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Mental illness
novantithesis's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It’s good for what it is. Kind of literary and not straight forward in the storytelling. Probably a more enjoyable read if you’re into a weird mysterious musing on how we existing with one another than if you’re looking at the genre info and the blurb and thinking it’ll just be a fun fantasy adventure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, and Violence
house_of_hannah's review
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Going into the last 20 pages I thought I was going to rate this a 3.5, because although it's taken some thought and re-reading, I was enjoying the story. However, I do not understand this ending. I just cannot figure out what happened here, what was going on, and why it was significant.
There are some interesting scenes, and I liked the flashback aspect as well. The older characters don't quite seem their ages though, and I ended up viewing everyone as the same age group even though that was not the case. The interconnection of their stories is probably the best part of the book, but it comes together in an unsatisfying way since I just cannot understand the end.
Could have used more mongoose scenes.
There are some interesting scenes, and I liked the flashback aspect as well. The older characters don't quite seem their ages though, and I ended up viewing everyone as the same age group even though that was not the case. The interconnection of their stories is probably the best part of the book, but it comes together in an unsatisfying way since I just cannot understand the end.
Could have used more mongoose scenes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Sexual content
cantfindmybookmark's review
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement and Mental illness
Minor: Gaslighting and Deadnaming
corar's review
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury
sunnydale's review
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Not my favorite of her books that I've read, but still a solid read that left me thinking for a long time after.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Gun violence
Animal death details:cheye13's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I need to reread this. Immediately. I have no clue what this was.
Like with Gingerbread, I found myself reeling trying to follow the frame structure and construct a linear timeline, but because it's written with such whimsy and spirit, I relished the challenge. This one clips right along – while I was trying to decipher one metaphor or meaningful event, we'd popped on to the next one. I do really think there's something here – about memory, personhood, legend... something. But it slipped through my fingers on this first read.
And yet it was just so fun and frightening and funny (Otis's narration made me laugh out loud more than once) that once I finished it, I wanted to flip right back to the beginning.
Like with Gingerbread, I found myself reeling trying to follow the frame structure and construct a linear timeline, but because it's written with such whimsy and spirit, I relished the challenge. This one clips right along – while I was trying to decipher one metaphor or meaningful event, we'd popped on to the next one. I do really think there's something here – about memory, personhood, legend... something. But it slipped through my fingers on this first read.
And yet it was just so fun and frightening and funny (Otis's narration made me laugh out loud more than once) that once I finished it, I wanted to flip right back to the beginning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Mental illness and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
content warnings are approximations, as it's hard to separate literal from figurative. animal death cw for brief descriptions of/about taxidermy.ceallaighsbooks's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“We’d all like to keep the impressions we just gathered, keep the hope we had and the interest we took in our surroundings; we’d like to be like that all the time and every day, but by the time you get home, that’s all snuffed out. In you go, in you go, creature who dwells in the stationary box, in you go, clutching your withered posy…”
TITLE—Peaces
AUTHOR—Helen Oyeyemi
PUBLISHED—2021
GENRE—literary fiction; train mystery. Oyeyemi’s writing defies narrow categorization but can often demonstrate similarities to the following styles: surrealism, fabulism, horror, fairy tales & mythology retellings.
SETTING—a train journey through England/Europe
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—mental illness, trust, relationships
WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BONUS ELEMENT/S—The exploration of mental instability and neurodivergency in this book was Oyeyemi’s most nuanced and insightful and thought provoking exploration yet.
PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“The train was there, and we were there, and so we kept saying things like “This is it,” and “Here we go,” as if trying to place verbal reins on the momentum of it all.”
Oyeyemi is my favorite writer. (It is also officially creepy AF how I manage to read the exact right Helen Oyeyemi book at the exact right time in my life that it is most relevant to me. 😂) My favorite things about this novel were its setting on a bizarre somewhat magical-seeming train, and the fact that while a strong supernatural energy permeates the story, it is never truly clear whether that is because some otherworldly power is REAL or if its a construct of the characters’ minds, perspectives, or situations. Basically, as @somersetxnorth(on IG) recently put it, “if you like your mystery with a dash of WTF, Oyeyemi’s your girl.”
I also liked the exploration of the nature of relationships in this book and the importance of connection and trust and truly “seeing” other people and how relationships influence identity and self-image as well. After her gorgeous writing and creepy themes, Oyeyemi’s profound philosophical explorations is another of my favorite things about her work.
Oyeyemi’s writing is definitely not for everyone so don’t feel bad if I’ve recommended her to you and you ended up not enjoying her work. 😂 I do think that she is at least worth a try though because she is just *such* a unique and imaginative (and yeah, genius, basically ☺️) writer that if her writing *is* for you then you definitely don’t want to be missing out.
FWIW: I disagree with the claim by some reviewers that this is a work of absurdist literature—possibly a commentary on absurdism to some degree but not absurdist itself.
“…I assure you—yes, you—that you’ll get through this, whatever it is, and everything will be better. We both know nothing’s all right, but when I tell you it will be, you take it. If you don’t, it’s because you’re holding out for another outcome altogether.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
TW // mental illness, gaslighting, paranoia, stalking
Further Reading—
- everything else by Helen Oyeyemi
- The Seed Collectors, by Scarlett Thomas
- Lost, by Gregory Maguire
- I think this book also kind of reminded me of some of Milan Kundera’s books but it has been so long since I’ve read them I can’t be sure which one/s I’m thinking of...
- train mysteries...
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Physical abuse
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