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emhunsber's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, Murder, and Suicide
Minor: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Colonisation, and Gun violence
caseythereader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Thanks to AA Knopf for the free copy of this book.
- Mandel is a master of laying out multiple story threads and then neatly braiding them all together in a thought provoking and satisfying way.
- SEA OF TRANQUILITY is practically a sequel to THE GLASS HOTEL, given that characters and events from the previous book are central to what happens in this one. I love the idea that Mandel drew in literary fiction readers with GLASS HOTEL and then surprise! Now you're in a sci-fi novel!
- As much as I enjoyed the spare writing style, I do wish we'd gotten to know more about the characters beyond what was essential to moving the plot along.
- I haven't read much pandemic fiction yet, and I felt like I was reading it askance, because it's still too hard to look at those early pandemic days straight on for me. It was quite something though, to basically see Mandel working through her pandemic experience and feelings in real time on the page through these characters.
- Mandel is a master of laying out multiple story threads and then neatly braiding them all together in a thought provoking and satisfying way.
- SEA OF TRANQUILITY is practically a sequel to THE GLASS HOTEL, given that characters and events from the previous book are central to what happens in this one. I love the idea that Mandel drew in literary fiction readers with GLASS HOTEL and then surprise! Now you're in a sci-fi novel!
- As much as I enjoyed the spare writing style, I do wish we'd gotten to know more about the characters beyond what was essential to moving the plot along.
- I haven't read much pandemic fiction yet, and I felt like I was reading it askance, because it's still too hard to look at those early pandemic days straight on for me. It was quite something though, to basically see Mandel working through her pandemic experience and feelings in real time on the page through these characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and War
Minor: Suicide
kabrahams's review against another edition
4.75
Loved this even more than Station Eleven and can't help but compare the two a bit. Both deal with plagues, but I felt like the way this book dealt with them resonated with them in a different way, probably because it was written during a plague. Like with SE, I loved how the many plots wove together from a British immigrant in the wilderness of 19th century Canada to futuristic author that lives on the moon but travels to earth for a book tour, all connected by a time traveler who lives even farther in the future and has begun to investigate whether life is really just a simulation. I'll be thinking about this book for along time to come.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence and Murder
paronomaniac's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Death, Gun violence, War, and Murder
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