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librarylilac's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book years ago and still think about how much I loved it. I am desperately hoping it will become available on Kindle so that I can read it again (my weak eyesight can no longer manage paper books).
eswee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.0
Set as a cold war story, this is mostly a tragic family saga where a once happy family struggles with little white lies and questions not asked. It was a very different time during the 50,s and 60,s and this depicts that very well. Meanwhile another tragidy happens when a local child dies, and how is the other story connected to that? This book is divided into 5 big parts, with their own chwpters, and while I didn't feel much for the 4th part, I do recommend this book. It was tragic but also intruiging to read!
loafermater's review against another edition
3.0
The writing is beautiful, the characters are so perfectly developed... there are some incredible things about this book. BUT... the lead up to anything actually beginning is about HALF of this very long book (my edition also had TINY text, which didn't help matters!). It was difficult to keep on reading. Then it got GOOD. Couldn't put it down. Then it got predictable. Some books you think you're supposed to "get it" before the characters do, but I wasn't sure it was intentional here. With Fall on Your Knees it was an "Oh my god, NOOO!" moment. Not so with this one. And then that was it, done.
There is reallly a lot to like about this book, and I hate to give it a bad rating, but.... iit did take me TWO MONTHS to slog through, and I guess that about sums it up. I'm glad to see similar reviews here. I felt like maybe I missed something brilliant in there, but I guess I didn't.
There is reallly a lot to like about this book, and I hate to give it a bad rating, but.... iit did take me TWO MONTHS to slog through, and I guess that about sums it up. I'm glad to see similar reviews here. I felt like maybe I missed something brilliant in there, but I guess I didn't.
daniellehines's review against another edition
3.0
This was a hard book to read. The writing is beautiful, the subject matter however is quite disturbing. The book is somewhat based on the Stephen Truscott case which is notorious here in Canada. A young man was convicted of raping and killing a younger classmate. Anne-Marie Macdonald gives a different interpretation of the events here. Although the book is so well-written and enveloping, I found many of the events in the book so disturbing that it was hard to make it through.
caustic_wonder's review against another edition
5.0
It’s a slow start, but the story really finds its stride about 80-100 pages in. At over 800 pages, I never once felt like I was dragging myself through any of them. It’s about childhood and the space race and learning to love your parents despite their flaws. And it’s about the ugliness of childhood and the way we can only see the truth of things once we have lived through them. It’s ugly and beautiful and everyone is broken and no one is without flaws but I love it.
michelereynolds_edd's review against another edition
1.0
Slow, dragging, boring. I had friends who loved this book so I was really looking forward to reading it. I trudged through about a third of it and finally gave up. Life is too short to read boring books!