sharong's review against another edition
5.0
Always love Rupert Thomson's books and this one did not disappoint!
andrew61's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up this book after hearing the author discussed on the backlisted podcast and think I have now found a writer that I am looking forward to exploring if this uniquely interesting and compelling novel is typical of his storytelling.
We are introduced to Katherine as an embryo frozen in a flask eight years before her birth. Fast forward to K at 19,living in Rome, and about to go to university in Oxford. Her father is a reporter who in travelling the world neglects his daughter who is grieving from the recent death of her mother. K disappears, throwing her phone in the river and goes on a trip from Berlin , to Moscow, and eventually to a remote town on the Arctic circle.
In her adventures she is enigmatic as she establishes short relationships and reflects on her loss, her life, and the impact of having to wait to be born.
Imaginative and well written this was a book which I raced through but also didn't want to end.
We are introduced to Katherine as an embryo frozen in a flask eight years before her birth. Fast forward to K at 19,living in Rome, and about to go to university in Oxford. Her father is a reporter who in travelling the world neglects his daughter who is grieving from the recent death of her mother. K disappears, throwing her phone in the river and goes on a trip from Berlin , to Moscow, and eventually to a remote town on the Arctic circle.
In her adventures she is enigmatic as she establishes short relationships and reflects on her loss, her life, and the impact of having to wait to be born.
Imaginative and well written this was a book which I raced through but also didn't want to end.
jmstergas's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
This book was a huge disappointment. Something very unsettling about a man writing about a young woman who encounters a bunch of random men who want to take advantage of her throughout her journey. Not to mention the whole book was essentially a stream of consciousness with little purpose or plot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Sexual violence
anatomydetective's review against another edition
3.0
Yet another well-written character study. I read a lot of these lately. Despite its attempt to be plot-driven, it was a story of character and places.
stirling's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
bretts_book_stack's review against another edition
2.0
Strange, dreamlike. Someone described this as literary David Lynch and that feels about right. A nineteen year old girl who was an IVF baby goes on a spiritual quest after her Mother dies of cancer. Thomson creates a weird, compelling, foreboding narrative, but I started to give up on dear Kate three quarters of the way through because she quickly became as cold as the cryogenic tank she'd been taken from.
abetterfate's review against another edition
2.0
I have lost my tolerance for old white men writing about their reckless, magical, sexy teenage girls.
roba's review
5.0
Rupert Thomson seems to be a kind of non-genre Adam Roberts: producing way more original books with way better writing than most of his peers, winning some prizes, presumably doing OK, but never having those bookshop tables stacked high. This is a strange and vivid book, feeling at first like an arthouse movie but one that eventually makes sense, and with incredible cinematography, by virtue of the simple but effective trick of giving everything a distinct colour. So good.
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