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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
I really enjoyed the author's writing style and how much effort and research she put into the historical aspect of this narrative. While I do feel like some of the main character's decisions were less based in logic and more geared towards furthering the plot, I was able to overlook that and enjoy the story that was unfolding. I liked how Bobby became like a brother to Alexandra throughout the novel. I also really appreciated how aspects of the narrative kind of came full circle. I've found over the past couple years, through an assortment of novels, that cyclical literary devices charm me, and it was a pleasant surprise to see how the author tied together Stoyan's and Alexandra's paths.
Although there was a bit of a romantic twist that didn't really do it for me. Thankfully that was a very minor-ish aspect of the story
Although there was a bit of a romantic twist that didn't really do it for me. Thankfully that was a very minor-ish aspect of the story
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
informative
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:
No
This is my first Kostova book, read as part of my trip to and reading around Bulgarian history. As such, I really appreciated the dedication and care Kostova takes in representing the country honestly and sympathetically. She sought to offer a novel dedicated to the country she herself fell in love with; she enlisted worthy partners (Georgi Gospodinov amongst them) to review and advise on her work; and for anyone who has not traveled there, this is a fine entry door into Bulgaria's troublesome 20th-century history (and into the 21st).
But this goal, perhaps, is exactly where the novel becomes a bit of a disappointment. At times, it reads as much like a tour intro of Bulgaria rather than a tightly-written and considered story. As others have written, the plot premise stretches credulity, so--so long as a reader is prepared to enjoy the adventure and ignore its likelihood--its merely a fair enough story. For me, that premise (a modern American dives into a mystery of the difficult politics and history of Bulgaria) itself created much of the trouble: in her need to offer native English-speaking readers a character we can relate to (and who would ask our questions), the story became unbelievable. Add to this a too-quickly-sketched and too-convenient climactic scene to resolve it all and I sighed in despair.
The real strength of the novel comes, of course, in the historical story her protagonist uncovers, that of the characters and circumstances of the Soviet-era labor camps where thousands vanished (and which is still problematic for many Bulgarians to discuss). That story, told in the novel through testimony and journals, is compelling and at times beautifully written. It reveals facets of interrogation and prisoner survival that are missed in many similar books. How it colors the lives and behaviors of contemporary politics and families is compelling. And this alone makes this longish novel worth the read.
I wish Kostova trusted her readers enough to write that historical tale and let us live in it. I wish she had trusted herself enough to avoid the few writerly strategies which awkwardly pepper the book for "creative" interest: some awkward point of view shifts, some too-coincidental connections, a kind of uber-capable partner, a remote and implausible love interest, a moment of surreal or magical karma which is left to tantalize only.
The Shadow Land is a worthy and important story nearly betrayed by writerly gimmicks and strategies.
But this goal, perhaps, is exactly where the novel becomes a bit of a disappointment. At times, it reads as much like a tour intro of Bulgaria rather than a tightly-written and considered story. As others have written, the plot premise stretches credulity, so--so long as a reader is prepared to enjoy the adventure and ignore its likelihood--its merely a fair enough story. For me, that premise (a modern American dives into a mystery of the difficult politics and history of Bulgaria) itself created much of the trouble: in her need to offer native English-speaking readers a character we can relate to (and who would ask our questions), the story became unbelievable. Add to this a too-quickly-sketched and too-convenient climactic scene to resolve it all and I sighed in despair.
The real strength of the novel comes, of course, in the historical story her protagonist uncovers, that of the characters and circumstances of the Soviet-era labor camps where thousands vanished (and which is still problematic for many Bulgarians to discuss). That story, told in the novel through testimony and journals, is compelling and at times beautifully written. It reveals facets of interrogation and prisoner survival that are missed in many similar books. How it colors the lives and behaviors of contemporary politics and families is compelling. And this alone makes this longish novel worth the read.
I wish Kostova trusted her readers enough to write that historical tale and let us live in it. I wish she had trusted herself enough to avoid the few writerly strategies which awkwardly pepper the book for "creative" interest: some awkward point of view shifts, some too-coincidental connections, a kind of uber-capable partner, a remote and implausible love interest, a moment of surreal or magical karma which is left to tantalize only.
The Shadow Land is a worthy and important story nearly betrayed by writerly gimmicks and strategies.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Elizabeth Kostova blew me away with The Historian and while I wasn't the biggest fan of The Swan Thieves, this one brought me back to loving her as an author. A richly told story that delivers atmosphere, characters, and emotions. It makes me want to go to Bulgaria and befriend strangers. Very well done!
dark
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
I didn't even finish the book, because it was so boring. This is just my opinion, don't hate on me.
I really wanted to like this book. I loved The Historian, so I got a copy of this back when it first came out. Never got around to it until this week. I wish I could say it was worth the wait.
I got through part 1 and just couldn't justify continuing. The main character Alexandra is so dull, in every sense of the word. She arrives in Bulgaria to take a job teaching English. Even though she doesn't speak Bulgarian. Would a school in Bulgaria hire a 26 year old American who doesn't speak Bulgarian to teach English (presumably to people who only speak Bulgarian?)? I genuinely don't know, but they did in this book. She meets three people and inadvertently winds up with one of their bags, which contains an urn filled with cremated remains. Understandably horrified, she enlists her cab driver to take her to the police station to try to return the urn to it's rightful owners.
This is where it started to lose me. Alexandra passes up every single opportunity she has to leave the urn with people more suited than her to get it back to the people it belongs to. I know, there would be no story if she did, but at least come up with valid reasons for keeping the thing. Honestly I could go on and on about why nothing worked for me in the first part, but mostly I was just bored out of my mind. Alexandra wasn't nearly interesting enough for me to care about. Bobby (the cab driver with the super American nickname, impeccable English and apparently days and days of free time to drive her around) might have gotten interesting but at least in the first 130 or so pages, Alexandra was too preoccupied with imagining the expansive gratitude of the owners of the urn or being reminded of her dead brother by literally everything, or wondering when Bobby would make a move on her (would it be at his elderly aunt's house? or while hiding in a closet after being deliberately locked in a monastery?) to ever take notice of the more interesting things about him.
I could have dealt with most of this if I'd ever gotten the impression the story was actually going somewhere, but I didn't. I hate not finishing books, but I hate wasting time on ones that bore me even more. Very disappointing.
I got through part 1 and just couldn't justify continuing. The main character Alexandra is so dull, in every sense of the word. She arrives in Bulgaria to take a job teaching English. Even though she doesn't speak Bulgarian. Would a school in Bulgaria hire a 26 year old American who doesn't speak Bulgarian to teach English (presumably to people who only speak Bulgarian?)? I genuinely don't know, but they did in this book. She meets three people and inadvertently winds up with one of their bags, which contains an urn filled with cremated remains. Understandably horrified, she enlists her cab driver to take her to the police station to try to return the urn to it's rightful owners.
This is where it started to lose me. Alexandra passes up every single opportunity she has to leave the urn with people more suited than her to get it back to the people it belongs to. I know, there would be no story if she did, but at least come up with valid reasons for keeping the thing. Honestly I could go on and on about why nothing worked for me in the first part, but mostly I was just bored out of my mind. Alexandra wasn't nearly interesting enough for me to care about. Bobby (the cab driver with the super American nickname, impeccable English and apparently days and days of free time to drive her around) might have gotten interesting but at least in the first 130 or so pages, Alexandra was too preoccupied with imagining the expansive gratitude of the owners of the urn or being reminded of her dead brother by literally everything, or wondering when Bobby would make a move on her (would it be at his elderly aunt's house? or while hiding in a closet after being deliberately locked in a monastery?) to ever take notice of the more interesting things about him.
I could have dealt with most of this if I'd ever gotten the impression the story was actually going somewhere, but I didn't. I hate not finishing books, but I hate wasting time on ones that bore me even more. Very disappointing.
I started and stopped this book three or four times. This time I got to chapter 40-something, the loan was due back at the library, and I didn't renew it. The main character is over-dramatic and underwhelming; she's so naive that she worries about the taxi driver coming on to her but daydreams about the 40s something man she met for 2 seconds on some hotel stairs.
The story is so over told. This book could have been much MUCH better if it was tighter, if the author didn't feel like she needed to pause conversations between her characters to describe the man on the side of the road, if she let the scenery and characters speak for themselves instead of describing every tiny detail.
Please tell me Jack actually either makes a reappearance at the end or has some actual point in this book other than that he is a shadow to Alexandra. I feel like his story doesn't contribute enough to the journey to even make all the work Kostova put into him worth it.
Is there some epic twist at the end? I kept reading hoping that it would actually get more interesting, but it just dragged on forever. If someone wants to tell me how it ends, that would be great.
The story is so over told. This book could have been much MUCH better if it was tighter, if the author didn't feel like she needed to pause conversations between her characters to describe the man on the side of the road, if she let the scenery and characters speak for themselves instead of describing every tiny detail.
Please tell me Jack actually either makes a reappearance at the end or has some actual point in this book other than that he is a shadow to Alexandra. I feel like his story doesn't contribute enough to the journey to even make all the work Kostova put into him worth it.
Is there some epic twist at the end? I kept reading hoping that it would actually get more interesting, but it just dragged on forever. If someone wants to tell me how it ends, that would be great.
I have never actually read an Elizabeth Kostova book before, so this was a first for me. I am sad to say that I did not enjoy "The Shadow Land."
Alexandra Boyd is a young woman who visits Bulgaria in the year 2008. Still haunted by the thoughts of her brother, she reminisces about him and their childhood and adolescence continually. On her first day in Bulgaria, something strange happens to her. While at a hotel, she spots a handsome and charismatic tall young man who is accompanied by an elderly couple. When the elderly woman takes a stumble while climbing into a taxi, Alexandra reaches out to assist the woman. Eventually, the trio drive off and mistakenly leave behind a bag. In that moment, Alexandra, becomes involved in a mystery surrounding an urn full of ashes and she teams up with a taxi driver to find the trio.
"The Shadow Land" is more of a travelogue with descriptions of Bulgaria than anything else. While it had such beautiful, rhapsodic prose, it had very little of real substance to really entice me as the reader. Moreover, it entirely lacked a much-needed plot and the pacing was otherwise painfully slow. If it had a faster pace and more of a climax, I would have given this book a higher rating but it was sadly underwhelming.
All throughout the story, I failed to develop an emotional connection with any of the characters who I found to be one-dimensional. The general tone and atmosphere is thoughtful with a hint of mystery. In conclusion I would like to say that I really wanted to like this book. It was the book cover and the description that really captured my attention initially.
**3 Stars**
I graciously received a copy of "The Shadow Land: A Novel" by Elizabeth Kostova" from Ballantine Books in exchange for an honest review.
Alexandra Boyd is a young woman who visits Bulgaria in the year 2008. Still haunted by the thoughts of her brother, she reminisces about him and their childhood and adolescence continually. On her first day in Bulgaria, something strange happens to her. While at a hotel, she spots a handsome and charismatic tall young man who is accompanied by an elderly couple. When the elderly woman takes a stumble while climbing into a taxi, Alexandra reaches out to assist the woman. Eventually, the trio drive off and mistakenly leave behind a bag. In that moment, Alexandra, becomes involved in a mystery surrounding an urn full of ashes and she teams up with a taxi driver to find the trio.
"The Shadow Land" is more of a travelogue with descriptions of Bulgaria than anything else. While it had such beautiful, rhapsodic prose, it had very little of real substance to really entice me as the reader. Moreover, it entirely lacked a much-needed plot and the pacing was otherwise painfully slow. If it had a faster pace and more of a climax, I would have given this book a higher rating but it was sadly underwhelming.
All throughout the story, I failed to develop an emotional connection with any of the characters who I found to be one-dimensional. The general tone and atmosphere is thoughtful with a hint of mystery. In conclusion I would like to say that I really wanted to like this book. It was the book cover and the description that really captured my attention initially.
**3 Stars**
I graciously received a copy of "The Shadow Land: A Novel" by Elizabeth Kostova" from Ballantine Books in exchange for an honest review.