Scan barcode
jess_mango's review against another edition
4.0
Oona was born and raised on Inis, a small, remote, craggy, rocky island off the coast of Ireland. In this insular community, the men are all fishermen and the women are all homemakers. The island swirls with folklore and religion. It's a place where people are expected to be a certain way and conform with the expectations. After a series of events when she is a teen, Oona flees from the island to make a new life for herself overseas. Twenty years later, her daughter disappears and Oona has to reflect on her past to figure out her present. The story moves back and forth between present day and Oona's past growing up on the island.
This is one of those atmospheric books. I can picture the rocky coastline, where people would often injure themselves on the crags. I can picture the people living there in there close off remote life. Oona never planned to stay on the island her whole life and she has some good childhood memories with her brother and friend but there is just as much sadness woven in. Oona grew up hearing lots of fairy tales and folklore. Her mother told stories about whales and more to a young Oona. The whole book has an almost folktale quality to it. It's realistic fiction with that moody, almost mystical thread woven throughout, tangled around Oona's memories and reflections.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
This is one of those atmospheric books. I can picture the rocky coastline, where people would often injure themselves on the crags. I can picture the people living there in there close off remote life. Oona never planned to stay on the island her whole life and she has some good childhood memories with her brother and friend but there is just as much sadness woven in. Oona grew up hearing lots of fairy tales and folklore. Her mother told stories about whales and more to a young Oona. The whole book has an almost folktale quality to it. It's realistic fiction with that moody, almost mystical thread woven throughout, tangled around Oona's memories and reflections.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
nixicat1's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mepresley's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved the atmosphere and setting of this novel, especially the flashbacks to Oona's childhood on the Irish island of Inis. The Island Child is about generational trauma--about the ways abuse follows and shapes us. I think of the Noah Kahan lyrics,
"I'm scared to check the date, I'm scared of the dark
You can't escape it, no matter how fast the car
When you're hollow, and I'm hollow"
It is also about the ways that the secrets we keep, which weigh on and isolate us,
I think the ending of the novel is lovely and perfect, yet also wanted to know what came next
magicofthepages's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-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
Some of the most beautiful writing I've ever read. Oona will stay with me for a long time.
ageorge1877's review against another edition
4.0
Fuckin hell this hits. Very close to 5 stars.
HAUNTINGLY good use of Voice. Some of the best I've ever read. You just know everywhere in the book has real salty air just by The Sound Of The Language. Great to see such confidence and ambition in prose writing, even if it goes a bit too far/on the nose on one or two occasions.
Thematically: fuck. Mothers and daughters and big depression times. So much of this gave me huge Joni Mitchell energy. That isolation, that desire for and fear of the outside world. Some really hard hitting passages, beautifully paced and structured.
One of them rare novels where I feel like I've lived a whole other life by the end of it. Cant really think of another time I've felt that since I read... Dr Zhivago perhaps??? Aitken has clearly just invested so much into Oona and all these characters and God they're all so messy they never stood a chance cry cry cry cry cry cry cry
Tragic stuff lads. You should read it.
HAUNTINGLY good use of Voice. Some of the best I've ever read. You just know everywhere in the book has real salty air just by The Sound Of The Language. Great to see such confidence and ambition in prose writing, even if it goes a bit too far/on the nose on one or two occasions.
Thematically: fuck. Mothers and daughters and big depression times. So much of this gave me huge Joni Mitchell energy. That isolation, that desire for and fear of the outside world. Some really hard hitting passages, beautifully paced and structured.
One of them rare novels where I feel like I've lived a whole other life by the end of it. Cant really think of another time I've felt that since I read... Dr Zhivago perhaps??? Aitken has clearly just invested so much into Oona and all these characters and God they're all so messy they never stood a chance cry cry cry cry cry cry cry
Tragic stuff lads. You should read it.
cat_queen005's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
frances_with_an_e's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
shippers1983's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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