Reviews with content warning for War - Greenwood

Such a wonderful book that takes your on a ride through time and family lineage in a way that I’ve never seen done so well. It’s a story that revels in the randomness and serendipity of life. The thematic connection to trees and nature is lovely and reflected in the writing in such a thorough, delightful way. It feels like one of those rare books that’s just perfectly realized and complete.

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mandi_lea's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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cday13's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I loved Greenwood! Michael Christie did a masterful job of balancing past, present, and future timelines. The separations of timelines were clear, and I was never confused about which character I was with, which is often a critique of books with so many characters and times.

The future Christie developed seems like it could be very realistic (almost too realistic). His commentaries on climate change, deforestation, and societal disinterest is timely, although did feel a little preachy at times.

I was never bored while reading. Although I found the "mystery" to be very obvious, I still enjoyed the pacing of its rollout. The ending is depressing (with a tiny sliver of hope), and left me with an increased sense of urgency to ensure that future does not come to pass.

I was able to connect to each of the characters in different ways. They were all fully fleshed out and their motivations, strengths, and weaknesses were believable and realistic.

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runesicle's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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gomoon's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Great book, the 2038 timeline is the weakest.

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zombiewilhelm's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This book follows the Greenwood family stretching through generations, from 1908 with Everett and Harris Greenwood struggling to survive to 2034 with Jake Greenwood, a young woman trying to pay off her student debt in a world that's been ravaged by the Withering.

I found this family saga to be equal parts interesting and horrifying. Everyone in this book has their own trauma that they are working through. PTSD stemming from the war, addiction, crushing student debt, worldwide climate crisis, the Dustbowl, a secret gay relationship during the early 19th century, etc. All of the characters are desperately searching for something in their lives. It was a pleasure to join them on their journeys even if they didn't ultimately find what they were looking for. I think the craziest part of this family saga is that most of the characters aren't actually biologically related.

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joshwrose's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I bought this book because of Canada Reads and I'm convinced that Keegan Connor Tracy did it a disservice. She mentioned after Greenwood was eliminated that she knew this book wasn't right for the competition's theme of Shifting Perspective yet defended it because she believed it was a book that all of Canada should read. Even in that regard, she spoiled some of the ending of the book, I think she truly misunderstood the characters and the ending.

Still, this is a very good book worth reading, even if I feel that the author didn't devote enough words to give a voice to indigenous wisdom. He touches a few times about how colonization and capitalism has harmed nature, and how white people stole the land from indigenous tribes, but that was all.

In the end, Greenwood is a "true" story about family and humanity's relationship to trees.

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kktaylor11's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.0

Last year I read Barkskins by Annie Proulx and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. When I first picked up Greenwood I thought it was the same book -- then realized it's a very similar idea (multi-generational epic length story tied to ecology and trees) but a different book so I thought I'd give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised.
While Christie is clearly writing in the same branch (tree humor...lol) as Proulx, he writes an entirely different story, which was refreshing. As for the story itself - I'd say 90% of it is very good...10% of it is forced and frustrating.
The story starts with Jake, living in a futuristic world where a blight (the withering) has killed off nearly all the trees in the world. Jake works in a "tree cathedral" where people come to visit the few remaining trees, and a visitor with a mystery about her past opens the door to the rest of the book. (Spoliers to follow!) The story that unfolds is fantastic. I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the "tree ring" metaphor -- structurally the story travels from Jake to her parents to her grandparents to her great grandparents and then back out again, "almost like rings on a tree!" However - it's not as clunky as at sounds. Christie is more a weaver than a woodsman, captivatingly transitioning from one time period to the previous and back again with finesse and gentle elegance. There are no hard stop chapter changes, a new character is introduced, gradually becomes central, and then slowly eases out of focus. When I first realized what was happening I was frustrated because I wanted the story that had been introduced with Jake, but by the end I was actually sorry to see the historical aspect fade away.

As for the story itself, Jake's story ended up being the biggest weakness. In the beginning I was hooked - I wanted to know how the drama of the sick trees and the question of her future would be solved. In the end, however, they weren't, and to me that was the biggest problem with this book. Christie took a cheap exit -- he left the trees sick and dying, left the money on the table, and left Jake with no future and randomly added a completely unnecessary child. It felt like he got bored and just decided to ditch things. All the items that he had carried in the book through decades -- the records, the tools, the journal - in a few pages it was just "oh well, they're all in the dump now." It felt like a heavy handed "now I'm going to end with an ecological message about how children are the future and we have to save the trees" when the book itself had so elegantly made clear the importance of trees throughout. In short - I loved everything about the book except the ending.
So what DID I love? Everett!! What a fantastic character! Christie really built him in such a three dimensional manner -- from scary, off-putting and negative to beloved. I might even have cried when Liam found Everett's coffin. OK, I might have cried a lot. Ironically, I also loved the character of Harris Greenwood - not as a person, but as such a well rounded, complete character! Watching Harris evolve over his lifetime was the epitome of a dynamic character, and not always in good ways. His brokenness, his intensity, his fear...it was all so powerful. I didn't love Harris, but I loved his character. I DID love Liam. I didn't like him at first, but I grew to love him, which just emphasizes how talented Christie is -- to create a character and pull us along the journey with Harris of coming to know and care for him. Lomax seemed a typical "bad-guy" and the "maybe it's my baby" part seemed forced and disconnected. Here's this guy who is so proud of being a father to seven children and the long suffering husband with his home and family and he's a "good guy" but apparently he's also sleeping with Euphemia? It doesn't fit with who he is painted to be. If he's a cheater who is sleeping around and then telling his lover (Euphemia) she has to give up the baby then it's not such a "fall from grace" for him to start the Opium trip. His character would be fine and effective - even sympathetic - if that twist was removed. It just felt cheap. I didn't love Liam 2 -- I wanted his character to be MORE fleshed out, but it felt like Liam 2's story is where Christie started to get bored and want to wrap things up too fast. Crawling from the house to the van and then back to the house was a little too much...It wasn't realistic first (if you have a spine severed that severely? Not likely.) and secondly it wasn't necessary. He could have done the same reflection lying on the floor without the back and forth dragging. It just felt forced...and I wanted to know more about him. We heard about his addiction, but his memories actually had nothing to do with it (aside from his detox with his mother.) How did he struggle? Also - no explanation of WHY he didn't answer Meena or every interact with his child? He loved her so much he almost lost it, but when she has his child he just totally ignores her? Doesn't seem realistic. Again - Christie seemed to be speeding up toward the end of the book. And then there's Jake. At the beginning I was really interested. Like I said above, I was actually frustrated when the book started going back in time because as it started I really wanted to focus on the future issues and how to solve the sick trees she's spotted. As soon as the Lomax hints started being dropped I got frustrated. It was too obviously a way to spin the end of the story. Take that out, let her claim her inheritance, and save the patch of trees. Or get rid of the "cathedral" and live on the island by herself. Better yet, let her BE pregnant and have the baby and live in Cabin 12 and emphasize the healing power of nature and why it has to be saved for the next generation -- that would make SO much more sense than her just picking a random child from a dump on the last pages of the book. The story is about family and continuity even when it's not expected or desired...but not just "hey, let me buy you dinner" while walking away from what the whole story has centered on. Honestly, Greenwood Island is the central spot in the story and at the end she just walks away from it into the dust and the retching and imminent death. So what was the whole point?

In the end, my assessment is this: Christie is a phenomenal historical fiction writer, but his post-apocalyptic writing leaves room for improvement. In my rating this one is good enough I'll keep it, think about it, and recommend it to friends -- but I don't think it will last for generations. 4 Stars.

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