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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
4.5
Love Cattons writing style and the way that she dives into these characters that feel so authentically maladjusted. I see parts of them in myself and parts of them in the people I know and I think that’s the mark of a great character writer.
I was really planning to give this a 5 but the ending gave me a lot of pause. I’m still trying to figure out if it’s edgy and unorthodox or if it’s just kind of a cop out. I felt like Tony was the only proactive character of the three while Shelley and Mira are generally reactive for the whole book.
I don’t think Catton is trying to say that insufferable white leftists are the real heroes of our time, but if you just look who’s putting their money where their mouth is in this book, it’s Tony by a mile and I feel like that muddles the message a bit.
Love Cattons writing style and the way that she dives into these characters that feel so authentically maladjusted. I see parts of them in myself and parts of them in the people I know and I think that’s the mark of a great character writer.
I was really planning to give this a 5 but the ending gave me a lot of pause. I’m still trying to figure out if it’s edgy and unorthodox or if it’s just kind of a cop out. I felt like Tony was the only proactive character of the three while Shelley and Mira are generally reactive for the whole book.
I don’t think Catton is trying to say that insufferable white leftists are the real heroes of our time, but if you just look who’s putting their money where their mouth is in this book, it’s Tony by a mile and I feel like that muddles the message a bit.
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was spectacularly fun. I LOVED it while also hating everything that was happening. A wildly unique, chilling, shocking, literary page-turner.
A scathing commentary on…let me remember…oh yeah, just about everything.
This page-turner features a group of eco-guerillas, an ambitious young reporter, a billionaire survivalist/robber baron, a newly knighted exterminator entrepreneur, and his loving, but very bored wife. The author lets none of them get away with anything. Just as you’re agreeing with one character’s point of view, Catton cuts them (and you) down to size. Everyone’s a hero and everyone’s a villain.
Overall, it is a slow and talky build toward a hair-raising climax. If you think that sounds like a Quentin Tarantino movie, you’d be spot on. (Consider yourself forewarned.)
Five stars because it both amused and horrified me, and because it’s awfully nice to be surprised by a plot once in a while.
This page-turner features a group of eco-guerillas, an ambitious young reporter, a billionaire survivalist/robber baron, a newly knighted exterminator entrepreneur, and his loving, but very bored wife. The author lets none of them get away with anything. Just as you’re agreeing with one character’s point of view, Catton cuts them (and you) down to size. Everyone’s a hero and everyone’s a villain.
Overall, it is a slow and talky build toward a hair-raising climax. If you think that sounds like a Quentin Tarantino movie, you’d be spot on. (Consider yourself forewarned.)
Five stars because it both amused and horrified me, and because it’s awfully nice to be surprised by a plot once in a while.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is hard to rate. On one hand, I kind of disliked all of the characters to some degree, which made it hard to get into initially. However, the more I read from their perspectives the less I cared whether I liked or disliked them... whatever that means. Their flaws are the point of the book, really. It's about people in situations that test their morality. It's about deceit and self-preservation. So, of course the characters are going to be self-serving in various ways.
The writing was a bit all over the place in places. Generally, it was an easy read, but certain passages - particularly in the first part - were overly complex and wordy. At one point there was a sentence that was, genuinely, sixteen lines long! Tony's POV in particular was tedious to read.
The book is split into three parts, but there are no chapters within those parts. It does, however, sporadically change POVs. The way the plot unfolded from different perspectives was very interesting and well done, I felt. We found things out before the other characters did, which was unusual, but worked well. I don't think the plot was overly complex, but because of the way it was told through multiple perspectives, it worked.
That ending, though. Wow.
The writing was a bit all over the place in places. Generally, it was an easy read, but certain passages - particularly in the first part - were overly complex and wordy. At one point there was a sentence that was, genuinely, sixteen lines long! Tony's POV in particular was tedious to read.
The book is split into three parts, but there are no chapters within those parts. It does, however, sporadically change POVs. The way the plot unfolded from different perspectives was very interesting and well done, I felt. We found things out before the other characters did, which was unusual, but worked well. I don't think the plot was overly complex, but because of the way it was told through multiple perspectives, it worked.
That ending, though. Wow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Got better as it went along. Turns from contemporary with a strange plot to a pretty fantastic thriller.
The beginning was 3 stars, the middle was 4 stars & the ending was 5 stars. The ending in particular was really perfect.
The beginning was 3 stars, the middle was 4 stars & the ending was 5 stars. The ending in particular was really perfect.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated