Scan barcode
wanderinggoy's review against another edition
I found it hard to engage with the story. Clunky style, slow pace, not much happening.
alexandramilne's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
albon's review against another edition
4.0
2019 review:
The Valley at the Centre of the World is a quiet, introspective novel about the lives of the inhabitants of a very small valley in Shetland. And I thought it was beautiful. This won't be for everyone, but I loved it.
Four things I liked:
+ The SETTING! Probably an obvious one, but it definitely deserves to be mentioned first. The valley felt so real to me. It was rugged and weather-worn and authentic, and I could smell the dirt and feel the wind on my face. It was so wonderfully described. And I would be lying if I said I haven't looked up plane tickets to Shetland. (Turns out there are direct flights between here and Shetland which I was not expecting? I don't think I'll have time to go anywhere this summer, but it's tempting...)
+ The writing in this was perfect. It was just what I wanted from it, not too much purple prose, but just a nice flow of words that made me feel perfectly enthralled with the story and the setting.
+ The dialogue in this book is written in "dialect", or Shetlandic/Shaetlan as it is called. I read a couple of reviews who mentioned that it was difficult to read, but I have to disagree. As long as you don't just read the words on the page but actually sound them out in your head, it's perfectly readable. I think it added to the authenticity of the book. If the characters who had lived in a valley in Shetland their whole life spoke "regular" stiff english, they wouldn't be as real as I thought they were.
+ How homey it felt. Like that could be my home, your home, all of our homes.
One thing I didn't like:
- There were two characters, Jo and Ryan, that didn't really do anything for me. And other than that I loved the characters, especially Sandy and his bond with Mary and David (I swear to god the last few pages made me cry), but honestly, I also loved Terry, and even Alice. But Ryan and Jo were just there. [I especially didn't enjoy the instalove between Sandy and Jo. Calling it instalove is probably too dramatic, I mean they didn't actually fall in love or anything, but I still feel like it could've been done better. I didn't buy their "connection". In a lot of cases instalove is used because the author doesn't know how to explain that these two characters in particular would fall for each other, but that wouldn't have been necessary with Sandy and Jo. They could've had a conversation or two, Jo could've opened up about how much of a dick Ryan was, they could've leaned on each other because there were literally no one else in the valley they could lean on, and boom, a much better developed romance. But it didn't really go anywhere and it was barely a romance, so I'm not that annoyed, it just something I think could've been done a little better. It would also have given us a chance to hear more about how Sandy felt about Emma leaving. (hide spoiler)]
The Valley at the Centre of the World is a quiet, introspective novel about the lives of the inhabitants of a very small valley in Shetland. And I thought it was beautiful. This won't be for everyone, but I loved it.
Four things I liked:
+ The SETTING! Probably an obvious one, but it definitely deserves to be mentioned first. The valley felt so real to me. It was rugged and weather-worn and authentic, and I could smell the dirt and feel the wind on my face. It was so wonderfully described. And I would be lying if I said I haven't looked up plane tickets to Shetland. (Turns out there are direct flights between here and Shetland which I was not expecting? I don't think I'll have time to go anywhere this summer, but it's tempting...)
+ The writing in this was perfect. It was just what I wanted from it, not too much purple prose, but just a nice flow of words that made me feel perfectly enthralled with the story and the setting.
+ The dialogue in this book is written in "dialect", or Shetlandic/Shaetlan as it is called. I read a couple of reviews who mentioned that it was difficult to read, but I have to disagree. As long as you don't just read the words on the page but actually sound them out in your head, it's perfectly readable. I think it added to the authenticity of the book. If the characters who had lived in a valley in Shetland their whole life spoke "regular" stiff english, they wouldn't be as real as I thought they were.
+ How homey it felt. Like that could be my home, your home, all of our homes.
One thing I didn't like:
- There were two characters, Jo and Ryan, that didn't really do anything for me. And other than that I loved the characters, especially Sandy and his bond with Mary and David (I swear to god the last few pages made me cry), but honestly, I also loved Terry, and even Alice. But Ryan and Jo were just there. [I especially didn't enjoy the instalove between Sandy and Jo. Calling it instalove is probably too dramatic, I mean they didn't actually fall in love or anything, but I still feel like it could've been done better. I didn't buy their "connection". In a lot of cases instalove is used because the author doesn't know how to explain that these two characters in particular would fall for each other, but that wouldn't have been necessary with Sandy and Jo. They could've had a conversation or two, Jo could've opened up about how much of a dick Ryan was, they could've leaned on each other because there were literally no one else in the valley they could lean on, and boom, a much better developed romance. But it didn't really go anywhere and it was barely a romance, so I'm not that annoyed, it just something I think could've been done a little better. It would also have given us a chance to hear more about how Sandy felt about Emma leaving. (hide spoiler)]
rose_reads33's review against another edition
3.0
Probably a 3.5
Didn’t set me on fire but was a nice read while in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. Lots of unfinished stories. Mostly a book about place, the people who inhabit it, their lives. Didn’t get super deep or say anything new, so a bit safe for me. I did enjoy how it never followed anyone outside of the valley, and how Alice’s book mimicked the main book (in lots of ways), for example how none of the characters appeared to do anything particularly exciting or interesting, they just lived their quiet island lives. But that doesn’t make them unextraordinary, just normal people. In the way that Alice was searching for more about Maggie, and ultimately, it wasn’t that there wasn’t more to Maggie, just that people’s lives are often quieter than that, and when they’re done it’s hard to describe what it is that made a person or made a life. I think there’s something very beautiful about a simple quiet life that disappears when you do. A lot of the book was about how people deal with grief, and how others perceive them in that, which I also enjoyed.
Another accidental book club with Morgan.
Everyone was always smirking and the overused verb annoyed me
Didn’t set me on fire but was a nice read while in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. Lots of unfinished stories. Mostly a book about place, the people who inhabit it, their lives. Didn’t get super deep or say anything new, so a bit safe for me. I did enjoy how it never followed anyone outside of the valley, and how Alice’s book mimicked the main book (in lots of ways), for example how none of the characters appeared to do anything particularly exciting or interesting, they just lived their quiet island lives. But that doesn’t make them unextraordinary, just normal people. In the way that Alice was searching for more about Maggie, and ultimately, it wasn’t that there wasn’t more to Maggie, just that people’s lives are often quieter than that, and when they’re done it’s hard to describe what it is that made a person or made a life. I think there’s something very beautiful about a simple quiet life that disappears when you do. A lot of the book was about how people deal with grief, and how others perceive them in that, which I also enjoyed.
Another accidental book club with Morgan.
Everyone was always smirking and the overused verb annoyed me
caitlinjclarke's review against another edition
4.0
'The Valley at the Center of the World' is a winter read. It is quiet, weathered and comforting. Set in a valley in Shetland, we follow the people who live within it, and realize how important sustaining relationships in such a wild and isolated place is. This book makes you think about how a home is made and remembered. It is a beautiful insight into the many lives of the people in the valley and a quiet yet powerful study of the authors homeland.
sasmort's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the island setting for this book and the way that the valley and its inhabitants were the centre of a small world. I really enjoyed reading it, but some of the story was a little unlikely, and I wasn't sure about ending without any real resolution.
kevinsmokler's review against another edition
challenging
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
4.5
kncody's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
libdibs's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I can't tell you what happened in this book except that it feels like this valley is a place I've visited