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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Well, that was thrilling and depressing. Not much happened in the book yet it kept me enthralled. I was highly disappointed in the ending but it also made sense. But I wanted more details of the world, more info on the babies and animals and everything else. Information was slowly dispersed, which kept me going, but I still don’t feel like I fully understood the world she was living in. I’m conflicted about this one!
First read of 2019 is a dystopia: seems appropriate. Parts of this are familiar (ala Handmaid's Tale and many others) but I was immediately invested in this particular iteration, read it start to finish on a flight.
This book is missing so much information it isn’t worth reading. What caused the change in births that got people so upset, how did the calamity start, and on and on.
Such beautiful writing, such vibrant characters. I couldn’t tear myself away. Probably would’ve given it a 4 star rating but then realized that I’d prioritized reading this book over interacting with family so it had earned five stars. I like that the end of humanity thing was slightly vague (or did I just blur past the scientific parts about DNA?), because it made it more menacing. Cedar is funny, level headed, but batshit crazy at times, and I wondered sometimes if I was going to get to the end to find out that she was in an institution the whole time.
Message: Things are changing. We are not responding well to the change.
This goes on the shelf next to The Handmaid's Tale.
This goes on the shelf next to The Handmaid's Tale.
Maybe this is not sci-fi, per se, but it's definitely speculative, dystopian fiction.
I liked this, it reminded me vaguely of The Handmaid's Tale because of the religious right in charge, the forced breeding of people who can conceive, but it was very different in a lot of ways. The whole book was suspenseful, I definitely didn't want to stop reading.
This is the 3rd book I've read from Louise Erdrich, and each has been so different but her voice is clear and distinct throughout.
I liked this, it reminded me vaguely of The Handmaid's Tale because of the religious right in charge, the forced breeding of people who can conceive, but it was very different in a lot of ways. The whole book was suspenseful, I definitely didn't want to stop reading.
This is the 3rd book I've read from Louise Erdrich, and each has been so different but her voice is clear and distinct throughout.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
The heist plot was so excellent that I can almost forgive the anticlimactic ending. Bonus points for random Catholicism lore.
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It may take me a while to really formulate my thoughts on this book. I enjoyed it, but the prose and structure were not my favorite style of writing. A lot of the world building was vague, on purpose I think, but it made it hard for me to grasp why everything was happening. The dystopian “hand-maiden” premise intriguing. I don’t know, I’m going to be thinking on this one for a while.
Interesting concepts for narrative and milieu, but the characters seemed a little undercooked. And, the underlying science elements are too vague to be understood.
FHotLG is a focused story in that it is the diary of a woman, Ceder, living through an evolutionary event where [that's a spoiler, you get to figure this out as you go]. We don't know everything. Questions are unanswered. Ceder doesn't know everything, her questions are avoided by other characters, and she does not always have access to her diary. Through this apocalyptic event, governments are breaking down, food and fuel are being hoarded, and Ceder is pregnant. We see everything unfold through her context of trying to build a community, by meeting her Ojibwe birth family and maintaining a connection with her white adoptive family, for her baby, and how that shifts to survival.
It's an amazing, if frustrating, book full of shifting power and frustrations that hits close to home at times.
It's an amazing, if frustrating, book full of shifting power and frustrations that hits close to home at times.