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kayleyc's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
emeliestegbornblixt's review against another edition
4.0
This book made me cry multiple times, so obviously I appreciate it. It is a novel with multiple intersecting storylines where I actually cared about all of them. (Shocking, I know.) It's subtle, melancholic and introspective... but like, in a connection-oriented way? I won't say more about the story than that because I don't think I have the mental bandwidth to do it justice right now. Other people have said it better than I would anyway.
Also the narrators of the audiobook did a great job of capturing the different characters whose perspectives they were narrating. (They were kind of theatrical, so some peple might not like it, but it was just the right level for me.) The characters voices were so distinct in both the writing and the narration in a way that worked really well for me.
Also the narrators of the audiobook did a great job of capturing the different characters whose perspectives they were narrating. (They were kind of theatrical, so some peple might not like it, but it was just the right level for me.) The characters voices were so distinct in both the writing and the narration in a way that worked really well for me.
bookishnicole's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
This just didn't click for me, but I enjoyed the cross timeliness story.
This just didn't click for me, but I enjoyed the cross timeliness story.
ladym23's review against another edition
4.0
every character in the book goes by the idea of: I love you, but i love myself more
jang's review against another edition
5.0
Jodi Lynn Anderson aka my new fave writer aka THE QUEEN OF SILENTLY IMPACTFUL, GUT-WRENCHING WORDS.
I first fell in love with JLA when I read her book Tiger Lily. She just has a way with words. Her gift for dialogues is astounding; it enlightens and really jolts awake sudden realizations you never knew you had in you. I mean, she'll make you realize things way before you realize you need some "realizing." Hahaha that doesn't make sense but that's how I feel!
I thought I was never gonna like this. The beginning struck me as a full-on dystopian sci-fi YA, which I never really had a patience for. Then came the backstories and those letters and journal entries, and I soon found myself a bawling mess.
By the way, I've always been a sucker for journal entry types of narrative. When the main character Adri started tracing back her history and family's roots through mails and journal entries, I was won over.
The book covered a lot of emotional aspects that gave a good break from all that sci-fi and industrial talk. It tackled grief, loss, heartbrokenness, yearning, confusion, self-realization, love, falling in love, and all those other emotions most young adults feel.
I especially loved those chapters that involve Lenore and James' unlikely "us but not really us" love story. I connected with it so much because aside from the realistic connection they had, the characters were also very layered and nuanced.
But my most favorite thing about the book would have to be the tortoise named Galapagos. OHMYGOD. The tortoise wasn't just a useless, filler for the plot to carry on; she actually played an essential part to the lives of all the characters mentioned in the book.
When they started letting go of Galapagos in Galapagos Island (which was really the best thing to do), I was crying as if I actually lost a loved one because 1. the scene was so beautifully and vividly told I felt like I was actually in that scene, and 2. turtles and tortoises are the fight of my life. It wasn't just a weird fondness, I actually really care and live for turtles. That scene was so beautiful I had to read it over and over and cry over it over and over.
Mid-read I realized that Galapagos -- being a tortoise that could live for hundreds of years and the only living witness to what Adri's family had gone through -- must've been a metaphor for time. Like a life clock that always sees everything in passing.
Midnight at the Electric is definitely my kind of dystopian sci-fi YA. It's punchy and modern yet is still emotionally realized and raw. And Jodi Lynn Anderson deserves all the awards just for existing.
I first fell in love with JLA when I read her book Tiger Lily. She just has a way with words. Her gift for dialogues is astounding; it enlightens and really jolts awake sudden realizations you never knew you had in you. I mean, she'll make you realize things way before you realize you need some "realizing." Hahaha that doesn't make sense but that's how I feel!
I thought I was never gonna like this. The beginning struck me as a full-on dystopian sci-fi YA, which I never really had a patience for. Then came the backstories and those letters and journal entries, and I soon found myself a bawling mess.
By the way, I've always been a sucker for journal entry types of narrative. When the main character Adri started tracing back her history and family's roots through mails and journal entries, I was won over.
The book covered a lot of emotional aspects that gave a good break from all that sci-fi and industrial talk. It tackled grief, loss, heartbrokenness, yearning, confusion, self-realization, love, falling in love, and all those other emotions most young adults feel.
I especially loved those chapters that involve Lenore and James' unlikely "us but not really us" love story. I connected with it so much because aside from the realistic connection they had, the characters were also very layered and nuanced.
But my most favorite thing about the book would have to be the tortoise named Galapagos. OHMYGOD. The tortoise wasn't just a useless, filler for the plot to carry on; she actually played an essential part to the lives of all the characters mentioned in the book.
When they started letting go of Galapagos in Galapagos Island (which was really the best thing to do), I was crying as if I actually lost a loved one because 1. the scene was so beautifully and vividly told I felt like I was actually in that scene, and 2. turtles and tortoises are the fight of my life. It wasn't just a weird fondness, I actually really care and live for turtles. That scene was so beautiful I had to read it over and over and cry over it over and over.
Mid-read I realized that Galapagos -- being a tortoise that could live for hundreds of years and the only living witness to what Adri's family had gone through -- must've been a metaphor for time. Like a life clock that always sees everything in passing.
Midnight at the Electric is definitely my kind of dystopian sci-fi YA. It's punchy and modern yet is still emotionally realized and raw. And Jodi Lynn Anderson deserves all the awards just for existing.
sammy234's review against another edition
4.0
I've always known one thing about my reading tastes.
I thoroughly dislike multi- generational stories told in different time periods and different perspectives. I can never connect to the characters equally; I always end up favoring one point of view over another.
Until this book because it had all of that stuff I dislike and still let me tell you, it was SMASHING.
Jodi Lynn Anderson always has flawless prose and is always bittersweet, but with this story she had just the right amount of sadness and hope and not too much sadness, like in the Vanishing Season.
When I read that book my heart basically wanted to die.
I loved everything about this book and I believe that everything hopeful and good came to pass for the characters. I believe Lenore spent her last days with her favorite person and that Adri loved her Mars and learned to love the people on and that Ellis made his way to England to be with Catherine and her Beezie. I believe they fell in love again and Jodi Lynn Anderson didn't even write it.
Everything, from the characters to the historical detail to the emotions to the setting were sparkling and so, so perfect. It was the most original thing I've read in ages and I'll definitely read it again one day.
Automatic favorite.
Sexual content: Kissing
Cursing: not much. Very mild.
Violence: N/A
I thoroughly dislike multi- generational stories told in different time periods and different perspectives. I can never connect to the characters equally; I always end up favoring one point of view over another.
Until this book because it had all of that stuff I dislike and still let me tell you, it was SMASHING.
Jodi Lynn Anderson always has flawless prose and is always bittersweet, but with this story she had just the right amount of sadness and hope and not too much sadness, like in the Vanishing Season.
When I read that book my heart basically wanted to die.
I loved everything about this book and I believe that everything hopeful and good came to pass for the characters. I believe Lenore spent her last days with her favorite person and that Adri loved her Mars and learned to love the people on and that Ellis made his way to England to be with Catherine and her Beezie. I believe they fell in love again and Jodi Lynn Anderson didn't even write it.
Everything, from the characters to the historical detail to the emotions to the setting were sparkling and so, so perfect. It was the most original thing I've read in ages and I'll definitely read it again one day.
Automatic favorite.
Sexual content: Kissing
Cursing: not much. Very mild.
Violence: N/A
mac_angelique's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderfully somber tale about three women tied together by time. Anderson’s words are so vivid that every moment pulls me in; makes me want to know each of them, personally.
saaambino's review against another edition
4.0
this was so beautiful! it was amazing seeing how these three timelines were woven together. what a solid way to start the year!!
sc104906's review against another edition
4.0
I got this as an eARC through Edelweiss.
It is difficult to summarize this novel, because it is both a futuristic dystopian novel and a historical novel. Anderson explores three perspectives throughout time, all of which are connected through letters and a turtle named Galapagos.
Adri lives in 2065 and she has been chosen to colonize Mars. Before she leaves earth, she must relax and prepare to leave the only home she has ever known. Adri spends her last few weeks on earth with a distant aging relative in Kansas. While there, she uncovers Catherine's journal, which is set during the dust bowl. Things are becoming increasingly stressful for Catherine as her sister sickness from the dust and her romantic interest is falling for another. Along the way, Lenore's story in England during WWI is uncovered. Lenore is working through the grief of losing someone to the war and developing feelings for a soldier whose life was irreparably changed by the war.
This novel was fantastic! I would read hundreds more pages of this book and would even be cool if it were turned into a series. I think Lenore's perspective could have been better developed and clarified further. However, I couldn't put this book down and loved its unique perspective!
It is difficult to summarize this novel, because it is both a futuristic dystopian novel and a historical novel. Anderson explores three perspectives throughout time, all of which are connected through letters and a turtle named Galapagos.
Adri lives in 2065 and she has been chosen to colonize Mars. Before she leaves earth, she must relax and prepare to leave the only home she has ever known. Adri spends her last few weeks on earth with a distant aging relative in Kansas. While there, she uncovers Catherine's journal, which is set during the dust bowl. Things are becoming increasingly stressful for Catherine as her sister sickness from the dust and her romantic interest is falling for another. Along the way, Lenore's story in England during WWI is uncovered. Lenore is working through the grief of losing someone to the war and developing feelings for a soldier whose life was irreparably changed by the war.
This novel was fantastic! I would read hundreds more pages of this book and would even be cool if it were turned into a series. I think Lenore's perspective could have been better developed and clarified further. However, I couldn't put this book down and loved its unique perspective!