Reviews

The Sunlight Pilgrims by Jenni Fagan

ellierichards90's review

3.0

The dystopian element of this book is more of a backdrop to the human story - I would have preferred more world building and a greater prominence to the events happening around the characters.

The main characters were well fleshed out, and I particularly enjoyed reading the parts of the plot which were focused on Stella. However, there were elements to the story which felt a little bit "soap opera" to me at times.

eric_roling's review

2.0

I was disappointed in this book. While geared toward adult readers given some mature situations, it has a very Young Adult sensibility. The characters were very interesting, but nothing happened and they never make the meaningful adjustments to their lives to improve their situation. One has commitment issues, another lacks confidence and has a drinking problem. Another is young and struggling with identity. The most frustrating thing was that the plot was very limited - it's 2020 and really cold out and everyone is going to freeze to death!! - but significant sections of the book are spent on sections that don't advance the plot. Girl goes biking, parents get scared that she will freeze to death, she gets home without their help, nothing calls back to episode in the rest of the book.

I did not the inner angst of the characters compelling. Also, there was a bit of a science dump from the author that didn't seem accurate, and wasn't that compelling. Others compared this to Stephenson, which is ludicrous.

debsd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

loren2002's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

junior051416's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

stephanielynnrp's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars

urlphantomhive's review

3.0

2.5 Stars

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

I was expecting the next apocalyptic story, where the world slowly freezes over the period of a long and freakish winter. While this is indeed a part of the story, to me it felt in the end as the minor part. Sure, there's talk about how cold it is and people are freezing to death in the streets (apparently, it takes a week to thaw a fully grown men, although why they would thaw them and then hold mass-cremations beats me).

Instead this is the story of the people living in a Scottish caravan park. The are all troubled and the cold really is the least of their problems. There is a sense that life wasn't good there before the start of the cold. Also, they never stop talking about the huge iceberg. However, while there's talk about some more drastic apocalyptic things, they aren't shown in the novel.

I found The Sunlight Pilgrims to be very slow, and while I don't need action packed sequences, it felt too much like all the characters were stuck where they were, unable to change anything and resigned in their fate. It was rather depressing. I'm sure tons of people are going to like it a lot, because it is written beautifully, but for me it was not the right book at this time. Or rather it was the wrong book for this time.

Also, on a much lighter note: It felt a little bit strange to read about a monster winter in the middle of summer (even though it's only 18 C these days).

Thanks to Blogging for Books for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

edorend's review

adventurous dark relaxing tense medium-paced

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

3.0

srdaine's review against another edition

3.0

¿3.5 estrellas? Me gustan los personajes y el contexto, la trama y la manera de llevarla ya un poco menos.

jnelsontwo's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0