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jadelaporte's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm and Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual content
itsme_lori's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Child death, and Grief
amhud1030's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Police brutality, Self harm, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Grief, Suicide, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident, Dementia, Alcohol, Confinement, Classism, and Infidelity
goldenbeebookshop's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
This is my first Cronin book, and having not read his popular Passage series, I wasn't sure what to expect.
What I liked:
The dystopian setting had enough unique aspects and mystery around it to stay engaged with the world and I was eager to tease out what exactly was going on.
There are good resolutions and payoffs for a lot of the plot choices that made me look back at some of the book in a new, better, light. Cronin captures the intense emotions of being a parent in a way that hit deep, often with the mostly delightfully simple turns of phrase.
What was neutral:
There are a fair amount of action sequences- primarily car chases and riots. This is content that I tend to skip over in books no matter the genre. This is a me thing and not a book thing, so zero judgment there.
There is a very formal tone to the writing. At first I thought it was intended to conjure a kind of "bygone era" style that one might associate with the 60s in this dystopian world, but I think it might be more about the author's voice. Hard to say, it was neither good nor bad, just a noticeably different style from the more contemporary/colloquial tone of other novels.
I'm wary of dreams as tools in storytelling because generally it's a piece of non reality that while potentially informing us of the character's state of mind, usually doesn't add anything to the story. In this case the dreams are important to the plot so I'm trying to make my peace with all the dream content.
A lot of boat content. I have never wanted to know what anything on a sailboat is called and I have retained none of the names or details of the various boats in this novel. If you love sailing, you may be thrilled by all the nautical details.
What didn't work for me:
The book feels a little long in some places. Admittedly, I like a sharp and lean book, so this is veering into personal preference territory, but I do think that paring down the story just a little bit more might have helped with pacing.
What I liked:
The dystopian setting had enough unique aspects and mystery around it to stay engaged with the world and I was eager to tease out what exactly was going on.
There are good resolutions and payoffs for a lot of the plot choices that made me look back at some of the book in a new, better, light. Cronin captures the intense emotions of being a parent in a way that hit deep, often with the mostly delightfully simple turns of phrase.
What was neutral:
There are a fair amount of action sequences- primarily car chases and riots. This is content that I tend to skip over in books no matter the genre. This is a me thing and not a book thing, so zero judgment there.
There is a very formal tone to the writing. At first I thought it was intended to conjure a kind of "bygone era" style that one might associate with the 60s in this dystopian world, but I think it might be more about the author's voice. Hard to say, it was neither good nor bad, just a noticeably different style from the more contemporary/colloquial tone of other novels.
I'm wary of dreams as tools in storytelling because generally it's a piece of non reality that while potentially informing us of the character's state of mind, usually doesn't add anything to the story. In this case the dreams are important to the plot so I'm trying to make my peace with all the dream content.
A lot of boat content. I have never wanted to know what anything on a sailboat is called and I have retained none of the names or details of the various boats in this novel. If you love sailing, you may be thrilled by all the nautical details.
What didn't work for me:
The book feels a little long in some places. Admittedly, I like a sharp and lean book, so this is veering into personal preference territory, but I do think that paring down the story just a little bit more might have helped with pacing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Slavery, Gaslighting, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Police brutality, Blood, Death of parent, and Self harm
booksthatburn's review against another edition
From the first page, THE FERRYMAN felt like mint chocolate cotton candy: a novel flavor combination which initially is a heady experience but eventually feels bland in its sameness. It’s startling at first, because it’s a flavor which does not normally belong in cotton candy and seems at first like a cool idea, but ultimately contributes little to the conversation of what makes a tasty dessert. I do not, generally speaking, want the book equivalent of cotton candy, but the writing is gripping and the world was interesting at first.
Ultimately I stopped reading when the bland misogyny became too frustrating. In a world where every marriage is a contract with a time limit (the parties can renew), it makes no sense for the main character to have a level of jealousy and possessiveness that in the real world is cultivated through an assumption of monogamy as a default. I read an ARC and so will refrain from using quotes in case the final version changes substantially, but this was a setup I've read before executed in a way that was frustrating to read.
Ultimately I stopped reading when the bland misogyny became too frustrating. In a world where every marriage is a contract with a time limit (the parties can renew), it makes no sense for the main character to have a level of jealousy and possessiveness that in the real world is cultivated through an assumption of monogamy as a default. I read an ARC and so will refrain from using quotes in case the final version changes substantially, but this was a setup I've read before executed in a way that was frustrating to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Cursing, Toxic relationship, Blood, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Self harm, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content, Dementia, Alcohol, Drug use, Excrement, Infidelity, and Infertility
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