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festivefun's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
christianbolling's review against another edition
5.0
I wish I could give this book 6 stars. Or even 10. Completely enamored.
hkar0610's review
4.0
I won an Arc of this book through a giveaway on Librarything.
What a book! I really liked this one. It can get a little muddled in the middle, and at points I felt like I was slogging through the snow with them. The narratives seemed to meander. On the one hand, that meant the story wasn't predictable. It was life, I was going day by day with them, walking down the street around the bend in the most delightful way. But on the other hand, it means there are points when your mind wants to put the book down and go for a walk, not continue diving deeper. There were several plot lines that I couldn't connect in the end. They made for interest but not for relevance. But the negatives are vastly outweighed by the description and author's way of pulling you into the personal struggles of the characters.
These characters are not "normal." They are not nuclear family leave it to beaver types. They are alternative, nonconforming fucked up humans who try to find joy and continue living a normal life in a scary time. They are great.
What a book! I really liked this one. It can get a little muddled in the middle, and at points I felt like I was slogging through the snow with them. The narratives seemed to meander. On the one hand, that meant the story wasn't predictable. It was life, I was going day by day with them, walking down the street around the bend in the most delightful way. But on the other hand, it means there are points when your mind wants to put the book down and go for a walk, not continue diving deeper. There were several plot lines that I couldn't connect in the end. They made for interest but not for relevance. But the negatives are vastly outweighed by the description and author's way of pulling you into the personal struggles of the characters.
These characters are not "normal." They are not nuclear family leave it to beaver types. They are alternative, nonconforming fucked up humans who try to find joy and continue living a normal life in a scary time. They are great.
eed8's review
1.0
I really, really wanted to like this book, but I feel like it was just overwhelmed by its own quirkiness. Dylan's story - raised by his mother and grandmother in an old movie theater, only to move into an old trailer with their ashes in tow after the theater is foreclosed - strangely did not resonate with me at all. Stella, the transgender teenager, was the only one who interested me, but the narrative didn't seem like it knew whether it wanted to focus on her or the impending apocalypse.
The writing is gorgeous, and VERY character-driven, which is normally a match made in literary heaven for me. I'm not sure why I didn't click with this book, but I really wish that I did
The writing is gorgeous, and VERY character-driven, which is normally a match made in literary heaven for me. I'm not sure why I didn't click with this book, but I really wish that I did
allisonj91's review
5.0
A novel beginning in November 2020 at the beginning of what could potentially be a new ice age. It’s from two perspectives: Dylan a man who has lost his grandmother, mother, and the theatre he grew up in all within the past six months. And Stella a transgender teenage girl.
Dylan’s mother leaves him a caravan in a caravan park in Scotland and when his theatre gets taken from him by creditors he moves there. Next door to him lives Stella and her mom.
This story is about neighbours trying to navigate life in a time when the world may be ending. It’s also about growing up and discovering family history.
Review:
I really liked this book! It felt odd to read it right now because of the events of this world but it somehow didn’t make me feel more anxious. It took me away to the beautiful snowy Scottish caravan park near the mountains. Also I just really liked how beautiful the writing. I loved how quirky the characters were, and I enjoyed reading about a transgendered child, which is something I don’t get to read about often.
I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I also wanted to add, I really recommended it if you enjoyed Station Eleven as it has similar vibes.
lizaster's review
3.0
The characters are interesting, but could use more fleshing out. There's a lot of great stuff here, Dylan's descriptions of Babylon, Stella's thoughts on her body, but the book lacks any sort of momentum, and feels like an unfinished first draft. The moment you get the antagonist in the room with the rest of the characters the book ends. And I don't even know if I would call Stella's dad a real antagonist, except that Dylan and Stella don't like him. The extremely cold weather, which should overshadow the book with a sense of doom, feels more like a non-issue. The main characters don't seem to struggle with it any more than a normal winter. They drink gin and go sledding, with the occasional mention on the news about the Thames freezing and snow in Morocco.
Stella is the most interesting character, her feelings about her body and fears about puberty forcing her into an unfamiliar body were very moving.
Stella is the most interesting character, her feelings about her body and fears about puberty forcing her into an unfamiliar body were very moving.
dissendiumnox's review
4.0
In 2020 Ice Age Scotland, Dylan moves from London to a faraway caravan park between land and sea. There, in the worst winter humankind has lived through, he meets Constance and her daughter, Stella, former boy who is struggling to get her new identity accepted by her classmates and their community.
I think this is actually the first time I read a book discussing transgender people. And it was so well done. I mean, I don't have much reading experience in this field, as I just mentioned, but honestly, you can't help but feel for Stella and want her to be happy in her own skin. It's truly sad to see her trying to live as herself (a girl) and everyone else picking and insulting her because she used to be a boy. It was unbelievably touching, all the more because Stella is an incredible human being, the life of this novel and just GREAT. I love her okay ? She's precious and she deserves all the good in the world.
The book isn't just about Stella, it is also about Dylan finding out about his identity and about love, and friendship. I think it could be read like a nordic tale or something. It's not magical but it has the tone of a fairy tale somehow. It is about so many important thing like ecology, and roots and sticking out for yourself, and judgmental people. All of it, so well done !
And this writing, seriously, this writing was superb. I should have known when I saw that this was published by Hogarth Press in England, because that's Virginia Woolf's publishing house and OF COURSE I would love their publications ! Some sentences, descriptions and wording were so beautiful, I re-read them many times trying to grasp the entirety of their beauty and meaning.
"Her mother resembled winter"
This book is a gem, raw and unsophisticated, full of beauty and light, when the entire the world is slowly, but surely, tipping over in the darkness.
I think this is actually the first time I read a book discussing transgender people. And it was so well done. I mean, I don't have much reading experience in this field, as I just mentioned, but honestly, you can't help but feel for Stella and want her to be happy in her own skin. It's truly sad to see her trying to live as herself (a girl) and everyone else picking and insulting her because she used to be a boy. It was unbelievably touching, all the more because Stella is an incredible human being, the life of this novel and just GREAT. I love her okay ? She's precious and she deserves all the good in the world.
The book isn't just about Stella, it is also about Dylan finding out about his identity and about love, and friendship. I think it could be read like a nordic tale or something. It's not magical but it has the tone of a fairy tale somehow. It is about so many important thing like ecology, and roots and sticking out for yourself, and judgmental people. All of it, so well done !
And this writing, seriously, this writing was superb. I should have known when I saw that this was published by Hogarth Press in England, because that's Virginia Woolf's publishing house and OF COURSE I would love their publications ! Some sentences, descriptions and wording were so beautiful, I re-read them many times trying to grasp the entirety of their beauty and meaning.
"Her mother resembled winter"
This book is a gem, raw and unsophisticated, full of beauty and light, when the entire the world is slowly, but surely, tipping over in the darkness.
gio_shelves's review
3.0
Buddy read with Cari :3
3.5
I hate having mixed feelings. I hate it because they make it much more difficult to actually express something coherent about the book, and I usually like writing reviews to clear my head about how much I liked the book itself. Anyway, overall it's for sure a positive rating, but I can't say I'm not confused because of some things...
The ending...ugh. Now, I don't dislike open endings. I'm usually open to any kind of ending, what matters to me is to see an ending that seems to fit with the story and that is still realistic. This time around I can't say I'm satisfied: I don't think that that can be considered an ending. It was very anticlimatic and abrupt. There's this slow build-up to it and then...nothing. I didn't expect something perfect, with a bow and a cherry on top, but I still expected something that would actually solve some of the story's problems.
I also had problems with the plot. Well, to be fair, I didn't feel like there was an actual plot, which isn't a bad thing per se in my book. There aren't many things that I absolutely dislike in books, and character driven books are not on the list. (On the list are things like too much drama, lack of communication, cheating, OOC characters...)
Some of my favourite books are very character driven, but still, the plot has to go somewhere, eventually. In this case I feel like there are too many issues there haven't been addressed.
That said, The Sunlight Pilgrims isn't a bad book. It's actually quite interesting, because it isn't your typical apocalypse-centered book. While the summary reminded me a bit of Station Eleven, this isn't anything like it, because it's focused on the months prior to the actual event and mainly deals with the characters' lives as the temperature drops.
The character development is probably the element I liked the most. The book truly gives us an insight to the characters' psyche and I did like the two PoVs. Stella's point of view was probably the most interesting one, because she's extremely strong and yet, fragile. Born in a boy's body she has always felt like that wasn't who she really was. I really liked how complex and yet relatable her character was. She is obviously scared, because her body is changing and she's afraid of looking like someone she isn't on the outside, but at the same time it's clear that she's incredibly strong.
The writing was quite good too. It wasn't too lirical, but it was elegant. Kind of classy anyway.
However I can't say I was completely satisfied with the book. I do think that the author developed some themes pretty well and I appreciated some of her choices, but I'm not that impressed.
3.5
I hate having mixed feelings. I hate it because they make it much more difficult to actually express something coherent about the book, and I usually like writing reviews to clear my head about how much I liked the book itself. Anyway, overall it's for sure a positive rating, but I can't say I'm not confused because of some things...
The ending...ugh. Now, I don't dislike open endings. I'm usually open to any kind of ending, what matters to me is to see an ending that seems to fit with the story and that is still realistic. This time around I can't say I'm satisfied: I don't think that that can be considered an ending. It was very anticlimatic and abrupt. There's this slow build-up to it and then...nothing. I didn't expect something perfect, with a bow and a cherry on top, but I still expected something that would actually solve some of the story's problems.
I also had problems with the plot. Well, to be fair, I didn't feel like there was an actual plot, which isn't a bad thing per se in my book. There aren't many things that I absolutely dislike in books, and character driven books are not on the list. (On the list are things like too much drama, lack of communication, cheating, OOC characters...)
Some of my favourite books are very character driven, but still, the plot has to go somewhere, eventually. In this case I feel like there are too many issues there haven't been addressed.
That said, The Sunlight Pilgrims isn't a bad book. It's actually quite interesting, because it isn't your typical apocalypse-centered book. While the summary reminded me a bit of Station Eleven, this isn't anything like it, because it's focused on the months prior to the actual event and mainly deals with the characters' lives as the temperature drops.
The character development is probably the element I liked the most. The book truly gives us an insight to the characters' psyche and I did like the two PoVs. Stella's point of view was probably the most interesting one, because she's extremely strong and yet, fragile. Born in a boy's body she has always felt like that wasn't who she really was. I really liked how complex and yet relatable her character was. She is obviously scared, because her body is changing and she's afraid of looking like someone she isn't on the outside, but at the same time it's clear that she's incredibly strong.
The writing was quite good too. It wasn't too lirical, but it was elegant. Kind of classy anyway.
However I can't say I was completely satisfied with the book. I do think that the author developed some themes pretty well and I appreciated some of her choices, but I'm not that impressed.
rh2riordan's review
1.0
Compelling characters and beautiful writing but the plot is frozen solid for the entire book, just like the Ice Age world Fagan has created.
plathheart84's review
4.0
Man I loved this! I just totally want to go live in caravan. The characters were so lovely, I laughed my head off and am so sad to lose them. Really lovely.