Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - Sea of Tranquility

Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

64 reviews

clemrain's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Mandel is always such a pleasure to read. I deeply appreciate her storytelling.

It took me a while to get into this book. I’m not sure what it was but I think it was the pacing. It’s nailed a bit in the beginning but once the book picks up it’s hard to put down.

The characters in Sea of Tranquility are small and—in turn—real. I deeply feel for all of them. The hurt I feel for these characters isn’t easy to describe without spoiling the book and rambling for paragraphs. But Mandel has a talent for writing real people living their real lives. And without it, the ending on the books wouldn’t land as hard.

This book is a simulation of sorts. And all it’s hurt and joy makes it real. Which creates this complete feeling when you’re done reading. It’s not a novel idea to say that the world being a simulation doesn’t matter, what does is that it feels like. However, Mandel presents it beautifully.

I love the writing style of this book. I wish this were longer. I want to know more about all of these characters. I have read about some of them in Glass Hotel and Station Eleven, and I hope as I read more of Mandel’s work I’ll run into the other characters as well. Especially Edwin. He’s such charming character. Back to the writing though, I love a past future and present and Mandel really kicks that idea up a notch in this novel. So fun to follow the narrative.

The dialogues are real. They feel like human interaction and it’s easy to get invested in them. The literary cadence is effective most times.

the repetition and anxiety of Olive wanting to return home is contagious. And the pang of delivery through a nonchalant conversation that she never made it home is insanely effective. Not to mention that it really shows Gaspery’s character development. If someone is gonna drown they’re gonna drown, to I couldn’t just let her die. It’s good. And the repetition of “this is real” and then the halt of “I’m convincing myself it is”. Also, good.

They’re effective but not necessarily unique.

The ending caught me by surprise.

I was expecting Gaspery’s ending to be the jail sentence Olive found. A nonchalance for a nonchalance. But him being the anomaly and the discrete way of delivering it did catch me by surprise. I keep going back on forth on if it was good to add in Gaspbery’s perspective of interviewing himself. Maybe it fit best to just leave the story at him recognizing his face after the surgery and picking up the violin. However, that would be too cliche. It’s already inching towards the line by having Gaspbery be the anomaly. (Maybe I’m having over reaching cringe from Doctor Who’s time child arc). It’s just kind of flat. I’m also left wondering if it’s proof of a simulation or just the science of a paradox and time travel. The book would’ve been five stars if not just for this.

It’s not easy to write time travel. I don’t care much about the science. I only care about a good timeline and something that isn’t corny. Just good writing, science can be bad. It’s fiction afterall. Madel’s time travel sections are very entertaining.

I really wish this book were longer. I know the plot was centred around the shared experience of all the characters and we did get a good glimpse into the characters lives but I just want more.

Great book, it made me think and added new perspectives into my life.

Content Warnings

charmaine_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

a bit white. first half was meh but second half and ending tying everything was very satisfying.

Content Warnings

airis_j's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.75

I did not think this would turn out to be as good as it did. The writing just never misses for me. And the way author writes her characters has me in awe. I'm glad I read Station Eleven before I read this and now I'm gonna read more of her work because I'm just so so so in love with this book.

Content Warnings

itsheyfay's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

This felt like a more speculative and hopeful version of 12 Monkeys. Some characters were stiff (but maybe that was due to the audiobook), and some plot points were confusing, but it was a quick read all things considered.

Content Warnings