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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
A very good read. Both a character study AND a page turner, as Sarah from Sarah's Bookshelves said! I agree with that.
This book sucked me in with its complexity and honesty. Couldn’t put it down. Not so much because of the “mystery” but because of the characters who captured my heart. 4.5 stars.
3.5 stars. I really liked these characters, and felt quite invested in their stories. But as for the writing style, I think it was a bit too much of a literary fiction for me - the paragraphs of reflection and introspection, and the occasional flowery language are just not my style. I considered giving this 4 stars, because there were parts I really did like, especially Evangeline and Isaac’s relationship (and Rufus!), but I think this overall was not really my type of book. I could see how others might love it, though.
Liked this one! Less of a thriller than I thought it would be—basically everything was as it seemed from the beginning. Glad I listened to it on audiobook. Reminded me more than anything of A Town Called Solace, not so much a mystery as a book about how the mystery affects the people in town?
It's rare to find a novel that is both unflinchingly honest and infinitely tender in the exploration of its characters' lives. And Tompkins captures the spirit of Port Furlong perfectly, with all of its beauty and danger and contradictions. I can imagine David Lynch making the movie version of What Comes After.
Oh boy. The book started well with believable characters and a good plot but meandered somewhat half way through with strong religious themes. The older male character was particularly frustrating as an emotionally closed and silent protagonist. Throughout, i was frustrated with the emotional constipation as well as guilt, anger, shame and secrets that everyone was carrying around.
Heartbreaking story with complicated characters. So many layers and some unexpected turns. As someone who usually can guess what’s going to happen this was a nice change.
Haven’t read much involving the Quaker faith, but really enjoyed that aspect of the story.
Haven’t read much involving the Quaker faith, but really enjoyed that aspect of the story.
This is a very hard book to review. The plot is crazy convoluted, and painfully sad. The book is very well written, but reading it feels like a slow walk to your death. You almost wonder if the author put in every terrible thing that can happen to one or two people in one book, and wrote it. 3.5 stars.
Someone mentioned Kent Haruf and, yes, there are strong echoes of Plainsong. There was an ugly cry near the end that gutted me. Overall, it’s a character study if flawed people grieving loss…of all kinds.
This book was very slow and took a long time to get into, but the writing was amazing so I gave it four stars. It was very interesting to read about a modern-day Quaker and what their religious practices looked like. Because of the significant emotional conflict that occurs in the story, a lot of the development happens internally in many characters (which is part of what makes the story read so slowly). I thought the book did a great job of it's portrayal of grief and all the confusion it can bring.