Reviews - Future Home of the Living God

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2.07k reviews for:

Future Home of the Living God

Louise Erdrich

3.66 AVERAGE

onceuponahedgehog's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional 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

may you find what you need in the pages of your own belief

Content Warnings

mia_difelice's review against another edition

4.0

At the end of the world, Cedar Songmaker is about to meet her birthmother. It seems like the Earth is hitting the rewind button, as previously extinct creatures appear and the world seems to get wilder. Civilization is collapsing and babies are coming out -- not quite right. A bit less evolved. A bit less human. Cedar is ready to meet her birthmother, ready because she herself is now pregnant. But as society falls to pieces, powers that be will do anything to get their hands on her baby.

In Future Home of the Living God, Louise Erdrich creates an apocalypse so unsettling, so haunting, and a protagonist so compelling that I was consistently excited to get back to the book. Cedar's voice is perfectly constructed, deeply imbued with personality and intelligence. She is a little strange, flawed, and deeply loving. The secondary characters, like Little Mary her half-sister, Sweetie her birth mother, Tia her partner in crime, are equally alive on the page. The atmosphere of Future Home of the Living God is consistently captivating, the conflict consistently urgent, and I loved the experience of reading this book.

I had a few gripes. While I liked the portrayal of Cedar's Christianity vs. that of the new order, the religious symbolism was unsubtle as can be. There were times where Cedar's point of view made it difficult to connect with other characters, like Phil

Spoiler

-- whose transformation in the latter part of the book felt abrupt and unrealistic to me

.

But overall, Future Home of the Living God is an incredible read that fully immerses you in its world, and in the head of its protagonist. I heartily recommend it.

chiron_00's review against another edition

2.5

challenging emotional tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

It's a good book, with some beautifu writing, it just wasn't for me personally.
Once you get past the first part it gets significantly better.

I liked some of the side characters much better than the main character, also there is a lot of religious imagery.

samsterrr's review against another edition

4.0

So, I haven't read "The Handmaid's Tale." I know, I know. I watched the TV show! But my library doesn't have it on eaudiobook, which is pretty much the only way I read adult books. And I've seen a lot of people compare this book to that one. But I have no context!
I really enjoyed this book, because it didn't feel over the top, even though a lot of it is about totally bonkers things. I loved the interplay between different genres and styles in this book. It was very engaging and I was super invested in what happened.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. The audio version was pretty excellent- Louise Erdrich narrated it herself, which was cool. And she had an Author's Note before the narration started which I loved, explaining how the book came to fruition.

avanders's review against another edition

1.0

I can’t, in good conscience, rate a book anything other than 1 star when my first 3 thoughts upon finishing were “wtaf” “are you f’ing kidding me” and “f you” (but in my head, I didn’t use letters...

justjess1025's review against another edition

2.0

This was such a good concept but it was not executed well at all. The first part was soooo slow. the middle was the most exciting and then it ended very poorly. Quite disappointed.