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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
lots of inner life, social commentary and random interesting factual information - my ideal! On the surface, not much plot. But lots of story!
I really liked Sarah Moss' reading style, however, that was the only thing that carried me through. There was something about this book that was just a bit.....Meh! I realise i am possibly the only person on the planet with that opinion, and i can really appreciate why people love it. It just wasn't for me.
It was brilliantly written - too good actually, as I couldn't bring myself to finish it. As a mother who has spent a bit of time in hospital with her children, I found this book distressing and I couldn't go on. I will definitely pick up another Sarah Moss book though - her writing is superb.
I'd heard so many good things about this book over the last year, and it is so worth the hype. Adam is a part-time academic and stay-at-home Dad, currently working on the tour guides to Coventry Cathedral. Then, one day, he is called to his eldest daughter Miriam's school, as she has stopped breathing. The novel follows the fall-out from this day, flicking over Adam's past and present, and the story of Coventry Cathedral.
Whilst aspects of Adam's character irritated me; I loved what Moss did with gender roles, how our pasts influence our present and the fear of loss. The written is just stunning, both in discussing Adam's feelings around parenthood; his father's history living in communes, and in the painful passages discussing the bombing of Coventry. I also liked Miriam, who reminded me a little bit of myself when I was going through my embarrassing pretentious teen stage.
Whilst aspects of Adam's character irritated me; I loved what Moss did with gender roles, how our pasts influence our present and the fear of loss. The written is just stunning, both in discussing Adam's feelings around parenthood; his father's history living in communes, and in the painful passages discussing the bombing of Coventry. I also liked Miriam, who reminded me a little bit of myself when I was going through my embarrassing pretentious teen stage.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beautiful novel. Delicate writing, intriguing characters and a slow moving plot that crawls under your skin without you realizing it.
4* and I am very curious about other work from Sarah Moss, because her writing is very much up my alley.
4* and I am very curious about other work from Sarah Moss, because her writing is very much up my alley.
This was quite beautiful, wasn't it? It probably helps that I love Cornwall. I've read quite a few books about great fathers but I'm not sure I've ever read one about a great father who is also a stay at home dad. I'm giving it four stars because its only downfall is it was slightly repetitive, but I do enjoy books that are essentially about nothing but characters, with nothing really *happening*.
I think the fact the story was interwoven with pieces of Adam's writing about the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral was a really great idea and important to the reader's understanding of Adam but unfortunately I don't really care about Coventry Cathedral so like other reviewers I didn't pay as much attention during these parts as I could.
I felt a bit peculiar about how much I disliked Emma too. It somehow felt sexist of me to judge her as a terrible mother because she was the one who could be arsed to work. I think perhaps her character was the least developed though, so I can't feel that guilty about not having much to work with.
I think the fact the story was interwoven with pieces of Adam's writing about the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral was a really great idea and important to the reader's understanding of Adam but unfortunately I don't really care about Coventry Cathedral so like other reviewers I didn't pay as much attention during these parts as I could.
I felt a bit peculiar about how much I disliked Emma too. It somehow felt sexist of me to judge her as a terrible mother because she was the one who could be arsed to work. I think perhaps her character was the least developed though, so I can't feel that guilty about not having much to work with.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beautiful story, wonderful writing. Gripping and reflective.
I enjoyed the parts about the Cathedral as well, but I didn't think they were actually really necessary or added anything special to the story.
I enjoyed the parts about the Cathedral as well, but I didn't think they were actually really necessary or added anything special to the story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief
Perfection in every way: characters, writing, atmosphere, emotions, everything. It tore my heart in pieces and yet left me fully satisfied with the experience of reading it.
The Tidal Zone opens when the father of a fifteen-year-old Miriam, Adam, receives a call informing him that his daughter collapsed in school and almost died. Then comes the struggle with dealing with this tragedy and how to deal with the aftermath of this episode and what it means for their family.
The book is told through Adam’s perspective and his was best narrative choice for me because often times his narration hit close to home. The way he discusses living with the fear of your loved dying and then always having to deal with that no matter the time or day it is is both a strange comfort and a terror you can’t escape from. Because I’ve been through a similar experience and actually lost the person close to me to their condition, most of the time the fear Moss describes was accurate enough to cut into some deep wounds. It might get repetitive for some people, but then I personally don’t think it covers even half the emotions running through a parent’s head when something such as this happens to your child.
Miriam, his daughter, was another wonderful character and possibly one of the most insightful teenage characters I’ve read about. While it’s clear she still has a lot of growing up to do and it’s evident she’s is still just a fifteen year old with not a ton of real world experience, she’s constantly reaching out to right the world and I think that’s the best thing anyone can ask of her.
Emma’s character initially felt rather dull and unimaginative, but in a way her position in this family kind of puts her in that place. She’s a workaholic mother who doesn’t know when or how to leave her work at the hospital. Towards the end she becomes more ‘alive’ and this is when I was able to finally reach out to the last member of this family and sympathize with them. Otherwise, I think it might have fallen just a teensy bit short.
This book is also very political; it is very current and relevant to our time and our world. Moss gives us a lot of chapters on Adam researching and talking about his project and it’s extremely clever the way the past, the current, and the possible future has been compared and connected together. Moss tackles discussions on terrorism, feminism, fair pay, economics, global crisis, genocides, Black lives matter, the EU, and so much more that I have a hard time remembering everything.
This novel was funny, poignant, moving, and it made me both very happy and very sad at the same time. Adam constantly struggles with letting his children flourish in their own right but also struggling to keeping them alive and that struggle is felt throughout the novel—even in the lighter parts of the book. And because the kind of grief Adam is dealing with is one that I’ve been through, I’m not ashamed to say I shed quite a few tears thinking about my personal loss.
Video review: https://youtu.be/DN_qwveAvGA
The Tidal Zone opens when the father of a fifteen-year-old Miriam, Adam, receives a call informing him that his daughter collapsed in school and almost died. Then comes the struggle with dealing with this tragedy and how to deal with the aftermath of this episode and what it means for their family.
The book is told through Adam’s perspective and his was best narrative choice for me because often times his narration hit close to home. The way he discusses living with the fear of your loved dying and then always having to deal with that no matter the time or day it is is both a strange comfort and a terror you can’t escape from. Because I’ve been through a similar experience and actually lost the person close to me to their condition, most of the time the fear Moss describes was accurate enough to cut into some deep wounds. It might get repetitive for some people, but then I personally don’t think it covers even half the emotions running through a parent’s head when something such as this happens to your child.
Miriam, his daughter, was another wonderful character and possibly one of the most insightful teenage characters I’ve read about. While it’s clear she still has a lot of growing up to do and it’s evident she’s is still just a fifteen year old with not a ton of real world experience, she’s constantly reaching out to right the world and I think that’s the best thing anyone can ask of her.
Emma’s character initially felt rather dull and unimaginative, but in a way her position in this family kind of puts her in that place. She’s a workaholic mother who doesn’t know when or how to leave her work at the hospital. Towards the end she becomes more ‘alive’ and this is when I was able to finally reach out to the last member of this family and sympathize with them. Otherwise, I think it might have fallen just a teensy bit short.
This book is also very political; it is very current and relevant to our time and our world. Moss gives us a lot of chapters on Adam researching and talking about his project and it’s extremely clever the way the past, the current, and the possible future has been compared and connected together. Moss tackles discussions on terrorism, feminism, fair pay, economics, global crisis, genocides, Black lives matter, the EU, and so much more that I have a hard time remembering everything.
This novel was funny, poignant, moving, and it made me both very happy and very sad at the same time. Adam constantly struggles with letting his children flourish in their own right but also struggling to keeping them alive and that struggle is felt throughout the novel—even in the lighter parts of the book. And because the kind of grief Adam is dealing with is one that I’ve been through, I’m not ashamed to say I shed quite a few tears thinking about my personal loss.
Video review: https://youtu.be/DN_qwveAvGA
A quiet, contemplative character study about rebuilding in the wake of disaster, The Tidal Zone was a thoroughly enjoyable read that thankfully managed to stand up to the hype surrounding it, even if I don't think it's necessarily for everyone.
The simple fact is, not a lot actually happens in this book beyond what we're told in the blurb, all of which takes place in its opening pages. A teenage girl's heart momentarily stops beating and though she is successfully revived through CPR, doctors can't figure out what caused it and therefore if and when it will happen again. The rest of the story is about the frustration and constant fear that her family feels; the sense of being trapped in limbo; the need to carry on with all of life's mundanities despite feeling like their whole world has changed; and the parents' unwillingness to let their daughter out of their sight in contrast with her determination to live her life her own way.
Moss' writing is indeed as beautiful as everyone has been saying, with wonderfully vivid imagery and a lyrical, flowing quality. Her characters are also wonderfully realised, particularly Adam, our narrator; a sensitive, intelligent stay-at-home father; and Miriam, the teenager at the heart of the tale; a snarky hater of money-hungry conglomerates and a passionate challenger of the patriarchy who knows what she wants from life, declaring as a child upon the birth of her little sister: "This baby is too loud and I will not have it."
The themes of rebuilding after trauma, working towards the future and finding beauty in dark times are mirrored cleverly in the sections in which Adam works on a project about the bombing and re-design of Coventry Cathedral. Though a highly successful literary device, some of these sections were a little dry, hence why this wasn't a five-star read for me.
If you want a plot driven story with a clear sense of climax and closure, this may not be for you. If, however, you want a subtle, deftly handled tale about the quiet, unseen struggles to carry on in the face of adversity, you may well fall in love with this, as so many seem to have done already.
The simple fact is, not a lot actually happens in this book beyond what we're told in the blurb, all of which takes place in its opening pages. A teenage girl's heart momentarily stops beating and though she is successfully revived through CPR, doctors can't figure out what caused it and therefore if and when it will happen again. The rest of the story is about the frustration and constant fear that her family feels; the sense of being trapped in limbo; the need to carry on with all of life's mundanities despite feeling like their whole world has changed; and the parents' unwillingness to let their daughter out of their sight in contrast with her determination to live her life her own way.
Moss' writing is indeed as beautiful as everyone has been saying, with wonderfully vivid imagery and a lyrical, flowing quality. Her characters are also wonderfully realised, particularly Adam, our narrator; a sensitive, intelligent stay-at-home father; and Miriam, the teenager at the heart of the tale; a snarky hater of money-hungry conglomerates and a passionate challenger of the patriarchy who knows what she wants from life, declaring as a child upon the birth of her little sister: "This baby is too loud and I will not have it."
The themes of rebuilding after trauma, working towards the future and finding beauty in dark times are mirrored cleverly in the sections in which Adam works on a project about the bombing and re-design of Coventry Cathedral. Though a highly successful literary device, some of these sections were a little dry, hence why this wasn't a five-star read for me.
If you want a plot driven story with a clear sense of climax and closure, this may not be for you. If, however, you want a subtle, deftly handled tale about the quiet, unseen struggles to carry on in the face of adversity, you may well fall in love with this, as so many seem to have done already.