Reviews

Astonishing the Gods by Ben Okri

mandylion's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.75

algriffin's review

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adventurous challenging mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

baron_jelly's review

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Couldn't get a grip of what was really going on and so couldn't get invested 

acpaz121's review

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adventurous reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No

3.25

marie5952's review

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challenging hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

aseel_reads's review against another edition

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

2.0

I think I would have appreciated the morals and themes of this book if I read it as a physical book instead of an audiobook. Unfortunately, I just didn't really get all the tidbits of wisdom that we were obviously meant to gain with all of the allegories and metaphors. 

lottepot's review against another edition

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4.0

This is a spiritual journey in the style of 'Siddhartha' and 'The Alchemist' but with much more lush prose and vivid imagery. It has Buddhist influence in that life is not about being perceived as something within a world but rather being in a constant state of becoming to be intangible and ever changing force in order to shape the world around you. This is especially important as the protagonist is treated with disdain and possibly bigotry in the ordinary world that he starts off in. There's also a nice mix of African myth and European classical poetry which forges its distinctive prose. I didn't like the objectification of women but it is perhaps understandable in a book from this time period. I would probably prefer to read Okri's poetry than any of his other novels going forward.

alexis67's review

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

2.0

lofrando's review

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i don't want to give it a star rating yet, i definitely need to reread it a few times. i really liked it, but i don't know why, and it has made me feel very strange in a way i can't describe.

poojakishinani's review against another edition

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3.0

3.75/5

Magical prose.