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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy
Moderate: Violence, Blood
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This had a lot of potential and promise, but as many reviewers point out, it devolves (haha, get it?) into a Handmaid's Tale rip-off.
I threw this book across the room when I finished it. That's because there's a whatever-the-opposite-of-a-deus-ex-machina-is and then the Handmaid's Tale b-s. Erdrich sets up a rich, complex storyline, about identity, religion, love from lust, and beyond. Absolutely none of these elements wind up in the ending for any sort of resolution. I'm not asking for a complete resolution, but at least something to show that you can tie a story together.
I enjoyed reading the book up until the last 20 pages, where it just gets bleak, uncomfortable, and dimestore Atwood-y. Disappointing, to say the least.
I threw this book across the room when I finished it. That's because there's a whatever-the-opposite-of-a-deus-ex-machina-is and then the Handmaid's Tale b-s. Erdrich sets up a rich, complex storyline, about identity, religion, love from lust, and beyond. Absolutely none of these elements wind up in the ending for any sort of resolution. I'm not asking for a complete resolution, but at least something to show that you can tie a story together.
I enjoyed reading the book up until the last 20 pages, where it just gets bleak, uncomfortable, and dimestore Atwood-y. Disappointing, to say the least.
Dark dystopian novel about evolution changing direction. The story is about a girl from Minnesota who was adopted from a Native American family. She finds out she is pregnant and the story is told as journal entries that she wants to leave as a record of how things were. Something is causing women to loose their babies at birth often killing the mother in the process. Government is hunting down and capturing all the pregnant women for research and keeping them in former prisons. The story reminds me a lot of The Handmaids Tale with the government being reformed under a evangelical type leadership who sees women as wombs to help save the earth. Very dark, the Native American aspect was an interesting twist. I'd recommend it.
reflective
sad
I really enjoyed this book... Right up until the end.
I'll start by agreeing with those who compared this book to The Handmaid's Tale - there are certainly some strong parallels when it came to the narrative about reproductive rights. However, I enjoyed the apocalyptic concept of devolution in this book, and ancient animals and plants taking over as humans return to a more primitive form. In fact, I really wish the author had focused more on that.
While the storyline was compelling and certainly drew me in, I felt like the author was teasing me a bit with glimpses into what this "devolution" looked like, and I wanted more. She really could have done some amazing things with is idea.
And then the end... *sigh*... I'm still mad. And I'm sure that's the point.
BUT regardless of my opinions, Louise Erdrich is an amazing author with extraordinary skill, and I recommend everyone pick up at least one of her books.
I'll start by agreeing with those who compared this book to The Handmaid's Tale - there are certainly some strong parallels when it came to the narrative about reproductive rights. However, I enjoyed the apocalyptic concept of devolution in this book, and ancient animals and plants taking over as humans return to a more primitive form. In fact, I really wish the author had focused more on that.
While the storyline was compelling and certainly drew me in, I felt like the author was teasing me a bit with glimpses into what this "devolution" looked like, and I wanted more. She really could have done some amazing things with is idea.
And then the end... *sigh*... I'm still mad. And I'm sure that's the point.
BUT regardless of my opinions, Louise Erdrich is an amazing author with extraordinary skill, and I recommend everyone pick up at least one of her books.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Loved, loved, loved this book until the last 20%, when it started to drag. Can't say more without revealing spoilers.
Spoiler alert ... Erdrich departs radically from her usual subject matter and genre with this book. I was not quite ready to find myself in a dystopian, almost science fiction, world when I picked this book up on the new release shelf at my local library. I've read most of Erdrich's novels over the years and they stay pretty solidly in a contemporary context of interpersonal and societal relations largely centered around upper midwest native american communities and persons from those communities. Drawing on native spirituality there is often a strong element of mysticism mixed into the storylines. For this book there remains some of that theme, but it's largely overshadowed by an almost Margaret Atwood-esque dystopian plot. Erdrich does it very well. I always enjoy her prose, her characters, her ability to connect me to her world quickly and with little effort and she does that all again with this book. I am still a little surprised by the departure from her traditional storytelling. Future Home of the Living God is gripping as it describes a society decline the lead character's efforts to navigate a world where her pregnancy becomes a serious issue. The conclusion of the story is such that I don't see Erdrich revisiting this world with these characters, but if she chooses to go back to this dystopia in a future novel I will be there to go on that ride as well.
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated