Reviews - The Sweetness of Water

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1.53k reviews for:

The Sweetness of Water

Nathan Harris

4.05 AVERAGE

burntout_bookworm's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 17%

Just wasn't for me. The writing style was good but I thought that this was going to be a different book.

doctorsophie's review against another edition

3.0

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mogar_pogar's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-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: Yes

ednabosseau's review against another edition

3.0

I listened to the audio book. The book was slow at parts, and I felt like it was drawn out at points. I liked the complexity of the characters, and the descriptive language.

mosbiemimi's review against another edition

4.75

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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: Yes

eb81661's review against another edition

3.5

This book just felt that little bit too long and slow moving for me. I’d describe it as a slow burn book except for the fact that it never really reached a ‘burn’ it just kept plodding along. I enjoyed getting to read the pov of many different characters, however also felt that you never got to know them on a deep enough level to really feel a strong bond. This book was incredibly moving though, and I did enjoy that George (the 60 something wealthy white man) wasn’t portrayed as a hero for taking on Prentiss and Landry, but instead seemed to genuinely value their work. It also seemed to take quite a turn at the end when George’s wife suddenly got heaps of POV chapters, even though she hadn’t been that strong a character throughout the whole novel. Landry and Caleb were probably my favourite characters. I loved reading from his POV, as he saw the world in a beautiful way where things others would see as mundane were made magical. I liked Caleb because of how human he was, he wasn’t a hero, but was also not directly a coward. Good book, amazing debut novel, just struggled a bit with the pacing.

badger5815's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-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: No

laurennmiller's review against another edition

4.25

An excellent debut novel, will definitely look for more from this author. Woven from the stories of many very disparate characters in the days after the Civil War, Harris captures them all with grit and compassion.