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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
My goodness. Erdrich is such a great writer but this book was convoluted AF. She explained nothing, didn’t give, enough detail, and overall didn’t pull it off. Good idea, bad execution
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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:
Complicated
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I feel like most of my dislike of this book is related to my dislike of the main character. The narrative is her journal entries that she intends to leave behind for her as-yet unborn child. Cedar is insipid and surface-level fake-pretentious/philosophical. Literally every other character in the book was more interesting. Overall this gave me very much the same sort of vibes as The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, enormously disingenuous.
The writing style is lovely, but wading through pages and pages of gorgeous prose in a book that is supposed to be somewhat plot-driven is about as fun as sitting in line at the world's most beautifully decorated DMV.
I've seen a lot of comments of FHotLG as a lesser Handmaid's Tale knock off, and that's not wrong. But what I kept thinking of while reading it was that it was a very very poor imitation of Children of Men. I came for human evolution winding backwards, with babies being born as Neanderthals and one mother coming to terms with the uncertainty of what her child will be like. I got a lot of family dynamics of a woman meeting her indigenous birth family (fascinating but more literary fiction than speculative fic as advertised) and a lot of generic dystopia. What actually is happening to the neanderthal babies? Are people trying to raise them? Do they even survive? It's implied that non-white mothers are more likely to have homo sapien babies (I think? Unless it's the other way around, it's never really clarified)- a fantastic premise that, like every premise in the book, goes nowhere.
And finally, one trope I never ever need to see again in fiction is the woman who kills a baddie in self-defense and spends the rest of the story wallowing in guilt and self-doubt.
I’m not saying the character can’t be haunted by the event. Not talking about a PTSD type trauma reaction of having to fight someone for your life, not being forever altered by the experience. That thing where they ask “but am I still a good person?” or “am I any better than X?” “how could I have done such a thing?” You. Were. Fighting. For. Your. Life. Please don’t spend the rest of the story questioning your right to live ad nauseum.
Maybe I’m just a sociopath but I find characters less sympathetic when they do this, not more.
I've seen a lot of comments of FHotLG as a lesser Handmaid's Tale knock off, and that's not wrong. But what I kept thinking of while reading it was that it was a very very poor imitation of Children of Men. I came for human evolution winding backwards, with babies being born as Neanderthals and one mother coming to terms with the uncertainty of what her child will be like. I got a lot of family dynamics of a woman meeting her indigenous birth family (fascinating but more literary fiction than speculative fic as advertised) and a lot of generic dystopia. What actually is happening to the neanderthal babies? Are people trying to raise them? Do they even survive? It's implied that non-white mothers are more likely to have homo sapien babies (I think? Unless it's the other way around, it's never really clarified)- a fantastic premise that, like every premise in the book, goes nowhere.
And finally, one trope I never ever need to see again in fiction is the woman who kills a baddie in self-defense and spends the rest of the story wallowing in guilt and self-doubt.
I’m not saying the character can’t be haunted by the event. Not talking about a PTSD type trauma reaction of having to fight someone for your life, not being forever altered by the experience. That thing where they ask “but am I still a good person?” or “am I any better than X?” “how could I have done such a thing?” You. Were. Fighting. For. Your. Life. Please don’t spend the rest of the story questioning your right to live ad nauseum.
Maybe I’m just a sociopath but I find characters less sympathetic when they do this, not more.
Louise Erdrich is one of my favorite authors, but this one is not on my list of fav books. I took forever to finish it bc I stopped reading it the first time, then picked it back up and remembered why I stopped initially. It’s all a lot to take in, and the reverse evolution is not easy to follow. What happens to society felt totally believable though.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I have a complicated relationship with this book. I was sucked into it, and found the setting and plot really compelling. It is so my jam: a speculative fiction, society-falling-apart book that features motherhood and spirituality at it's center? But it just sort of. Ends. There are about a hundred questions left unanswered, but not necessarily in a way that I liked.
On one hand, that's life and all. Most of what takes us to that ending was satisfying and interesting, so I don't regret the time spent with the book. On the other hand, I think it was a fundamental mismatch of reader to story -- the speculative elements that I wanted to dig my hands into weren't necessarily important to the key components of the story.
On one hand, that's life and all. Most of what takes us to that ending was satisfying and interesting, so I don't regret the time spent with the book. On the other hand, I think it was a fundamental mismatch of reader to story -- the speculative elements that I wanted to dig my hands into weren't necessarily important to the key components of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Once I got to mid-point, I jumped to the end to see how it ended. I just didn't click with this one. I think this is a case of "it's not you, it's me". Maybe if I were in a different mood I'd enjoy it more, but I think I'll pass.
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes