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jayisreading's review against another edition
2.0
It took me a little over a month to get through this tome, which I thought was at least 300 pages too long. As much as I love beautiful writing, I need things to happen to really appreciate that beautiful writing. When things happened in Cloud Cuckoo Land, it was wonderful. Other times, though, it made reading feel like an absolute chore. I felt like there was a little too much self-indulgent writing that was happening. Relatedly, Doerr barely—and I cannot emphasize “barely” enough—pulled off the intertwining stories at the end. Each timeline and their respective plotlines had their flaws, but I thought the one that took place in the present was by far the strongest and most interesting. The plotlines that took place in the past were somewhat engaging but not all that interesting. Meanwhile, the plotline that took place in the future was interesting but not at all engaging. (This is to say, Doerr should not venture into sci-fi writing, because I don’t think he would be very good at it.) All of them had beautiful writing, but your mileage varied on how much impact any of it had on the story (raising the question, what actually was the story). And, speaking of impact, I found the codex excerpts at the start of chapters rather tiring after a while. It didn’t leave much of an impression on me, especially because it rarely tied to the actual chapter content.
This is making me realize that I may have to revisit All the Light We Cannot See, which I enjoyed when I read it way back when. I wonder if something changed or it just ended up that Cloud Cuckoo Land was a miss. Whatever the reason, I just know I won’t be getting many hours back that was spent reading this book.
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Death, Violence, Confinement, and Ableism
Moderate: Bullying and Animal cruelty
Minor: Rape and Homophobia
bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Rape, Animal death, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Confinement, Death, Islamophobia, Slavery, War, Violence, Ableism, Suicide, and Terminal illness
betsygrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Hate crime, Medical content, Gun violence, and War
shlymiller's review
- 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? Yes
4.75
It took me awhile to get invested in each storyline, but once pieces started connecting I couldn’t put it down.
Graphic: Gun violence, War, and Violence
Moderate: Mental illness, Death, Confinement, and Terminal illness
Minor: Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent
danielleafsordeh's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Mass/school shootings, War, and Confinement
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty
zosiablue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: War and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Incest, Mass/school shootings, Animal death, Homophobia, and Bullying
a_wren_that_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, War, Colonisation, Death, and Animal death
Minor: Child death and Pregnancy
nialiversuch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Bullying, Death, and War
katymat18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
3.5
Graphic: War, Violence, Gun violence, and Confinement
Moderate: Death and Murder
naomi_k's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Racism, Blood, Bullying, Death, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Confinement, Dysphoria, War, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Animal death, and Homophobia
Minor: Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Child death, Excrement, Alcohol, Sexual content, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse