Scan barcode
eralcnitram's review against another edition
2.0
My mum said she didn’t like this and found it a bit name dropping and pretentious. Not having lived then, I didn’t struggle with that part. At times the writing could have been better and didn’t love the shoe horning of Marinus in again, felt unnecessary.
But I did want to read to the end of the story
But I did want to read to the end of the story
anjcairns's review against another edition
5.0
I have such a book hangover now I’ve finished this. Contains all of what you would expect from David Mitchell.
dustymoth's review against another edition
3.0
The ridiculous cast of famous musicians popping up endlessly sort of ruined what was a pretty good yarn.
The character of Elf was also pretty shallow but at least she was queer!
The character of Elf was also pretty shallow but at least she was queer!
kamasue's review against another edition
4.0
The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is something I can't mention because it'd be a spoiler. Suffice it to say this is classic Mitchell - excellent character work, lovingly luminous descriptions of place and time, and with juuuuust a touch of the weird and unsettling.
jperronereader's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic boo for those of us who are Boomers. I read it as an audiobook and it was so much fun. Definitely worth the read.
thaddeus's review against another edition
2.0
Not sure what happened. A rare misfire from one of my favorite fiction writers.
zoeezim's review against another edition
3.0
I always look forward to a new David Mitchell book, and though I enjoyed the characters immensely, Mitchell’s dedication to his über-novel has become a bit grating. By the end, I wasn’t quite sure what was the purpose of the Jacob de Zoet B-plot, which initially seemed the most intriguing part of the book.
thesuperbard's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
zenarcade's review against another edition
3.0
While overall I did enjoy reading this book, I didn't love it as much as I was expecting to. I think probably my expectations were too high- David Mitchell is one of my favourite writers, and I love 60s psychedelic rock, so I figured this would be right up my alley. But it didn't quite grab me in the way that his other novels have. My issues:
1) I'm not how well all the celebrity cameos/namedropping worked. To a certain extent, it was probably necessary; it would be hard to write about the London music scene in the 60s without including some of these name, but it still kind of took me out of the story whenever it happened. Maybe I'm just weird about reading fictionalized depictions of real people, but it felt a little self-indulgent to me at points.
2) I don't think the characters were particularly strong. One of my favourite things about David Mitchell's books is that I've always felt like he was especially talented at writing different character voices, but I wasn't feeling that as strongly in Utopia Avenue. Jasper was probably the most interesting of the main cast, but a lot of the other major characters (Dean, Griff) could've been more compelling.
There definitely were things I liked about the book though! I spent this whole review criticizing it, but I did enjoy the novel, it just wasn't quite what I was hoping it would be.
1) I'm not how well all the celebrity cameos/namedropping worked. To a certain extent, it was probably necessary; it would be hard to write about the London music scene in the 60s without including some of these name, but it still kind of took me out of the story whenever it happened. Maybe I'm just weird about reading fictionalized depictions of real people, but it felt a little self-indulgent to me at points.
2) I don't think the characters were particularly strong. One of my favourite things about David Mitchell's books is that I've always felt like he was especially talented at writing different character voices, but I wasn't feeling that as strongly in Utopia Avenue. Jasper was probably the most interesting of the main cast, but a lot of the other major characters (Dean, Griff) could've been more compelling.
Spoiler
3) While all of his novels are somewhat interconnected, I wished the references in this book were a bit more subtle- it was a bit jarring with the rest of the novel to have what felt like part of The Bone Clocks shoehorned into the plot midway through.There definitely were things I liked about the book though! I spent this whole review criticizing it, but I did enjoy the novel, it just wasn't quite what I was hoping it would be.