Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Ferryman

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

15 reviews

jaklindberg's review against another edition

Proctor Bennett waxes poetic about his wife, how amazing she is, how in love he is with her, and the regularity of their sex life. Still, he cheats on her with a relative stranger (a 15-minute conversation over a cigarette plus a four-hour lunch does not make one familiar enough not to be strangers) when she goes on a business trip. Then, it turns out to be a dream state, so NBD shouldn't get mad at someone based on their dreams that would be irrational.

They wake up to find that in real life, he cheated on his grieving wife after the loss of their four-year-old child to drowning. It turns out the real-life affair partner is also pregnant, so. . nope. I'm done. That whole thing went out the window. Nothing turns me off from a story quicker than the garbage I read.

It is grossly unfair how Bennett gives the impression of familiarity of having sex with his wife with more fluid, respectful descriptions, but when it comes to affair partner, it's more fades to black to be more respectful of his time with her. Dude? WTF?

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lizzie24601's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Another stellar novel from Justin Cronin. His rich, illustrative prose is much stronger when he writes in third person - so the long-winded chapters from Proctor's perspective are a bit boring at first, but the narrative picks up once the plot speeds up.

As always, Cronin constructs interesting and nuanced characters and builds a complex and mysterious world that you can get lost in. I didn't see the plot twist coming, but once it did, I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it earlier. I wish we had gotten a bit more from Elise's perspective, and more about Proctor's

real world backstory prior to the Oranios launch

, but I'm happy with the pacing and where the book ends up. Strong recommendation for anyone who enjoyed The Passage trilogy or fans of light, realistic sci fi.

My one remaining question:

If only the Prosperans went to the Nursery, were the colonists in the Annex just... reincarnated? Because presumably they were living more than one lifetime as well. How did that work?

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bevrocky79's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.25

For fans of sci-fi novels, you will like this. If you’re like me and really only dapple in sci-fi once in a while, this novel is not for you.

It’s so lengthy and wordy for no reason. Way too much plot and not enough enjoyment at all. There were literal chapters of nothingness. It’s also not fresh or new in any way.

Retelling of classic sci-fi tropes with no attempt of being different or new. A wanna be crossover of Brave New World and the Matrix. I can even say that I’m spoiling anything because you can see all the twists and turns coming. I was really hoping for something different. Extremely disappointed and wish I didn’t even bother with it.

The best part of the book is the last 9 or 10 chapters. And the last two chapters are useless pages. Does nothing to round out the story. Honestly don’t waste your time. Unless you really are obsessed with this genre.

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idroplungs's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated

4.75

Justin Cronin is one of my favorite authors, The Passage trilogy is my favorite. He has a way of writing that sticks with you for years, and I look forward to what quotes I'll be remembering from The Ferryman in the future.

I want to give it 5 stars - the writing is incredible and the ending beautiful (even though the editor could've recommended just a small swapping of a few pages), but I just can't bring myself to forgive that "twist" that I prayed wasn't coming the whole time.

it was all a dream mixed with the matrix? I saw it coming (well, the matrix piece at least), begged it not to, and damn near threw the book when it did

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