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3.42k reviews for:

Alene sammen

Abraham Verghese

4.25 AVERAGE

dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Interesting to read this so soon after the Covenant of Water. I definitely think the latter is a stronger book, but I did really enjoy this and felt immersed in Addis the same way I felt immersed in Kerala when reading Covenant. The interweaving of medicine and surgery through this book felt heavyhanded by the end (why does everyone die of a weird disease??) but never dry. I didn’t want to put this down and think it mostly stuck the landing 
challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad 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
challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

I debated between 2 and 3 stars for this one. I thought the plot had a lot of interesting themes, and I especially liked its handling of betrayal. That said, I found the pacing to be off - some parts dragged on too long and others flew by too quickly. I was also hoping for more from the ending.
emotional sad
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The most beautiful book I’ve ever read.
challenging emotional informative reflective 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
emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A quick read, but I'm torn about this book. I haven't thought over it enough, but the plot seems a bit fantastical and I'm conflicted about the author's view towards women. Meh, we'll leave it at that.

The story is fascinating and much of the prose beautiful, but I could do without all the medical jargon, especially the gory details on obstetrics.