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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
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
dark
emotional
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:
No
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
sad
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:
Complicated
I think there's really too much going on in this book. The meditations on women, on new life, on pregnancy, on the divine are really beautiful, and I appreciate the main character and her perspective a bunch. But the plot well.... it's hard to follow... there's maybe not quite enough exposition about the world (which is maybe intentional- but it could have been executed better)... and a lot of plot points feel sort of out of the blue/ not well-incorporated. I also think that the way that the main character's indigenous identity was explored felt like an afterthought. It could have been more integral to the book or not done at all.
Content Warnings
Minor: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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:
No
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
There were some really good ideas and passages in this book, but for me it was badly written.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-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:
No
I had some quibbles here and there, as I often do with dystopia, and there were a few too many instances of the right person in the right place at the right time. However, this was such a good story overall that I forgave the minor flaws and enjoyed the read.
Louise Erdrich is such a consummate storyteller that I can't imagine not enjoying anything that she writes.
Louise Erdrich is such a consummate storyteller that I can't imagine not enjoying anything that she writes.
Louise Erdrich has written a very compelling and unique story that had me hooked for about 50 pages right in the middle. Unfortunately, she has written it using such a flat and severe voice that many opportunities for emotional impact were passed by unnoticed. The character Cedar, whose private journals stand in as the mechanism for telling the story of the apparent downfall of mankind, is so unkind, unemotional, and self-centered that it makes it very difficult to love her, and since the story is told entirely from her perspective, a reader might find themselves a little smugly satisfied when things don’t go well for her. Cedar is ostensibly an adult but more often acts like a pouting, rebellious teenager than the strong woman she purports to be. I don’t have a problem with main characters being imperfect, and in fact welcome deeply flawed leads, but in this case she simply became annoying. First person POV be damned; we had no idea what was going on in the heads of any other character, and that was entirely due to Cedar’s unwillingness to ask or even imagine how others might be feeling.
I do, however, give this book three stars (rather than a lower score) for three key reasons:
First, there is a depiction of labor that is so profound and poetic that it gave me flashbacks to my own labor experiences with my children. It is one of the most beautiful and accurate written portrayals of the birthing process I have ever read.
Second, overall the book is beautifully written. The complaints I expressed above are the full extent of the flaws in the novel. Erdrich clearly has a mastery of the English language.
Third, Spider Nun. I would so much rather have read this book from that one character’s perspective.
I do, however, give this book three stars (rather than a lower score) for three key reasons:
First, there is a depiction of labor that is so profound and poetic that it gave me flashbacks to my own labor experiences with my children. It is one of the most beautiful and accurate written portrayals of the birthing process I have ever read.
Second, overall the book is beautifully written. The complaints I expressed above are the full extent of the flaws in the novel. Erdrich clearly has a mastery of the English language.
Third, Spider Nun. I would so much rather have read this book from that one character’s perspective.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I am SO MAD at this book. It was really good and it felt like it was building up to something amazing and then just had this horrible ending. Is this really a standalone book? Are we really not going to know anything about what happens to the baby? To humanity? To Cedar? I've never been so disappointed in an ending before!!!!