Reviews

The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht

jennajean's review against another edition

5.0

I loved this book, and how Obreht wove folktales into the telling of Natalia's relationship with her grandfather and her grief at his loss. Simple and sweet storytelling. <3

[Around the world - Serbia]

froggysuprise's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

wimzie's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War and Domestic abuse

creadsreviews's review against another edition

4.0

I’m not sure when I added this book was on my kindle, but I stumbled upon it in my library and I finally got around to reading it and wow! I get where people wouldn’t like this type of book as it’s sort of hard to push through some of the seemingly “pointless” plot lines/can be hard to understand what the “meaning” is - but some of the story lines will stick with me and I’m still mulling over how they all intertwine (or maybe they don’t!). This book is a very interesting take on how people handle the complicated emotions of death and weaves it beautifully with folklore and I probably should have read this book slower to really get more of it.

jlg757's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

I wanted to like this book, and I may have, if the author didn’t use a racial slur for Romani people (an ethnicity to which I belong) and degrading and racist/xenophobic descriptions and characterizations of them throughout the book. She should know better. Reading this book hurt and infuriated me, and I would not recommend it to anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs

lilia123's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

ellathelibrarian's review against another edition

5.0

Love love love it. The meandering back stories of various characters kept me hooked and I adored the magical realism of it. Highly recommended.

sarahmontplaisirklueber's review against another edition

Very boring... 

meg_31's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Tea Obreht’s writing style is so beautiful. She has such a magical way with words and creates such descriptive and sensory metaphors.
As others have said, the plot was a little bit too loose for my taste. The stories of the deathless man and the tigers wife were very captivating but they were contained within a very surface level narrative and I found myself getting somewhat confused and frustrated when weaving in and out of them. 
I will definitely try some of her other books as I hope the narratives will be more defined and let the beautiful writing really shine!

klaireparavel's review against another edition

3.0

Excellent weaving of Balkan folkore with the realities of war (like I'd know about either). It felt like a first book though - fresh but not entirely focused. Tea Obreht will be an excellent storyteller.