Scan barcode
staghunters's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Wonderfully written, though it requires focus to really get all the nitty-gritty details. Harding carves a sad story out with his prose, but doesn't shy away from putting down how these things possibly could have happened in real-life counterparts. There are characters that wrestle with their internalized prejudice and discriminatory attitudes, and others that don't bat an eye at self-reflection in the face of obvious inhumane acts.
The Honeys, Larks, and other residence of the island are a wild but loving bunch. A close-knit group that wants the best for each other through their simple ways. The book doesn't say this way of life is inherently better, but the people are happy enough despite the hardship they face in their daily life in the environment they have chosen as their home.
Ethan Honey's section clings as a tragedy that happens all too often in other historical novels or romances, yet here meets the end it has because of the exact time and place it is set in. The glimpses at a future exhibition give hope. But that is all that Apple Island leaves behind, save for small shards hidden deep in the dirt.
The Honeys, Larks, and other residence of the island are a wild but loving bunch. A close-knit group that wants the best for each other through their simple ways. The book doesn't say this way of life is inherently better, but the people are happy enough despite the hardship they face in their daily life in the environment they have chosen as their home.
Ethan Honey's section clings as a tragedy that happens all too often in other historical novels or romances, yet here meets the end it has because of the exact time and place it is set in. The glimpses at a future exhibition give hope. But that is all that Apple Island leaves behind, save for small shards hidden deep in the dirt.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Ableism
mahtzahgay's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The prose was alright – the subject matter absolutely miserable. While I appreciate the care and love given to Apple Island's inhabitants, there's something so deeply depressing about reading a story where eugenics-loving colonisers do what eugenics-loving colonisers do.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Ableism
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Death of parent
seventhswan's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This Other Eden is heartbreakingly bleak almost from start to finish; honestly, I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I knew just how *sad* it was going to be. From the first few pages, I felt afraid for the characters as they were introduced, knowing from the blurb and the true story this is based on that a distressing ending was inevitable. And I so quickly grew to love the characters - my initial worries that there would be too many to keep track of were unfounded. Esther in particular was so compelling and I could have read an entire book just about her.
I don't know how to describe how affecting this story was, or how well-written. It doesn't rely on graphic descriptions of any of the horrors that befall the inhabitants of Apple Island, but the way they are alluded to and couched in figurative language is somehow worse. I can't not recommend this book, but it isn't one I expect to want to return to for a very long time.
Audrey Magee's The Colony on steroids, or perhaps tranquillisers.
I don't know how to describe how affecting this story was, or how well-written. It doesn't rely on graphic descriptions of any of the horrors that befall the inhabitants of Apple Island, but the way they are alluded to and couched in figurative language is somehow worse. I can't not recommend this book, but it isn't one I expect to want to return to for a very long time.
Audrey Magee's The Colony on steroids, or perhaps tranquillisers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Incest, and Racism
Moderate: Child death, Animal death, Rape, and Violence
lottie1803's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Incest, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Ableism, Murder, Racism, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Rape, Child death, Death, and Death of parent
bessadams's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Ableism, and Murder
Moderate: Incest, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, and Rape
soswiin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
had some incredibly strong moments but failed to really pull me in for any part that wasn't the second section. really didn't learn too much about most of the cast despite most of the book depicting the mundane parts of the islanders' lives. so dull for the majority of the book that i was only truly invested in the painting scene and the occasional tense end of a paragraph. though there were some genuinely striking lines, it felt like harding was trying to hard to be deep in his narrations and descriptions that it just came off as pretentious. the lack of quotation marks and abundance of run-ons just made this a chore to read at times as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Ableism, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Incest and Rape
thewickermage's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
It seems a lot of people didn't love this. I did. It started out a little rough and I wasn't sure if I would get into it, but once the ark story was finished I found myself fully immersed in the lives of the Apple islanders in 1911. It's an important story and so beautifully told. My favourite part was when Paul Harding referenced an archaeological survey conducted 100 years after the forced relocation of the islanders, where they found that the islanders lived no differently than the people on the mainland... it was a beautiful moment in an otherwise very sad story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Religious bigotry, Incest, Murder, Sexual content, Hate crime, and Racism
kk_gotit_goinon's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
Nothing happens in this book. I feel that there's no nuance or anything deeper. It just is what it is. The eugenics parts can be interesting if you know the history and the details of it, but I don't think you'll get it if you haven't heard of it/don't have a science background where you learned a lot about it. I couldn't get attached to any of the characters, I felt bad for them but I didn't fall in love either. It's a quick listen at least.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Incest, Violence, Religious bigotry, Racism, Sexual assault, Murder, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Animal death, and Ableism
deedireads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
As of this writing, This Other Eden is shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the National Book Award. Still, given that it got some lukewarm reviews in my personal circle, I was surprised by how much I ended up liking it. It’s not perfect, but it is gorgeously written and undeniably moving.
The book is a fully fictional story featuring fictional characters from a real place with a real history: Malaga Island off the coast of Maine, home of a mixed-race community that was evicted and partially institutionalized by the government. There are a lot of characters for a book, but not very many to serve as the sum total of all the island’s inhabitants; still, it’s easy to keep track of them (a testament to Harding’s skill) and even easier to love them.
My main complaint about this book was that it isn’t very researched at all; in an interview, Harding said that he heard about Malaga Island, got inspired, and then essentially stopped researching it (not even visiting), because he didn’t feel like those real people’s story was his to tell. That feels like a cop out to me.
Still, Harding succeeds in much of what he set out to do, at least: paint a devastating picture of eugenics, raise questions about the concept of paradise, and make his readers feel something deeply.
The book is a fully fictional story featuring fictional characters from a real place with a real history: Malaga Island off the coast of Maine, home of a mixed-race community that was evicted and partially institutionalized by the government. There are a lot of characters for a book, but not very many to serve as the sum total of all the island’s inhabitants; still, it’s easy to keep track of them (a testament to Harding’s skill) and even easier to love them.
My main complaint about this book was that it isn’t very researched at all; in an interview, Harding said that he heard about Malaga Island, got inspired, and then essentially stopped researching it (not even visiting), because he didn’t feel like those real people’s story was his to tell. That feels like a cop out to me.
Still, Harding succeeds in much of what he set out to do, at least: paint a devastating picture of eugenics, raise questions about the concept of paradise, and make his readers feel something deeply.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Ableism, Incest, and Animal death
Moderate: Racial slurs, Rape, Pedophilia, and Forced institutionalization
rei_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Incest, and Murder
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Rape
Minor: Animal death