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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
For all its simplicity, this book had so much soul. Reading it was like listening to an acoustic song, raw and evocative. The narrative was mesmerizing, coveying a kind of sincerity and vulnerability that drew me in. The chapters were short but perfectly captured these honest vignettes of this family in the midst of losing a father and a husband. Overall, this book was such a beautiful and poetic read. I absolutely loved it.
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Read in one sitting and loved it. I've always been a fan of A Softer World, but I hadn't read any of Joey's other stuff. Now I want to read more. Maybe aloud to someone, anyone. Maybe aloud to a cow named Lydia. Why not.
Touching and introspective. Sad, but also funny and lighthearted and gentle and kind in just the right places to help nudge reality along and to add texture to the sadness and grief that you ran into back there.
Touching and introspective. Sad, but also funny and lighthearted and gentle and kind in just the right places to help nudge reality along and to add texture to the sadness and grief that you ran into back there.
Quick and engrossing, realistic and meaningful, if not life-changing. I really enjoyed this one.
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I do love a novel that deals with grief and immortalizing the memory of the ones we love and this certainly delivered!
Some really poignant paragraphs in here that made me have to stare at a wall for a bit. This is a very short book (made even quicker by the extremely short chapters) but despite the length you really do get attached to this family and invested in their relationships with each other.
I finished this wanting a bit more, though. For a book that is eponymously titled after a town in Nova Scotia, it didn't feel very rooted in that particular setting. I think one of the book's greatest strengths is its restraint; it doesn't linger too long on any particular moment or message and avoids feeling melodramatic and self-indulgent as a result, but it also ends up feeling like a string of fictionalized morals/meditations on grief. I personally prefer a bit more narrative structure when these themes are being tackled (ex. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell and Toward Eternity by Anton Hur).
This book does what it does very well, and it's something that will certainly stay with me after reading it. 4/5!
Some really poignant paragraphs in here that made me have to stare at a wall for a bit. This is a very short book (made even quicker by the extremely short chapters) but despite the length you really do get attached to this family and invested in their relationships with each other.
I finished this wanting a bit more, though. For a book that is eponymously titled after a town in Nova Scotia, it didn't feel very rooted in that particular setting. I think one of the book's greatest strengths is its restraint; it doesn't linger too long on any particular moment or message and avoids feeling melodramatic and self-indulgent as a result, but it also ends up feeling like a string of fictionalized morals/meditations on grief. I personally prefer a bit more narrative structure when these themes are being tackled (ex. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell and Toward Eternity by Anton Hur).
This book does what it does very well, and it's something that will certainly stay with me after reading it. 4/5!
This was a slow burn hurt kind of novel. The tenderness you feel for this family is real; as is the hurt you feel for them at the end. I dont know that I read this at a perfect time, I just lost a family member to cancer...perhaps I shall try to re-read it when the wounds aren't so fresh.
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is a sort of minimalist wonder, with big feelings in a tiny package. You can read Malagash in under an hour, but the characters, the images, and the ideas stay with you. I stood in a subway station finishing it, tears in my eyes. A story about the death of a family member could easily be tired or maudlin, but Comeau avoids both these traps. Fresh, moving, and entirely memorable.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No