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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
π«ππππππ π±ππ, πͺπππ ππππ, ππ πππ ππππππππ.
I've been drawn to this book like a moth to a flame by the line "come home, if you remember" that appears on the cover. It gave me goosebumps, I wanted to know why.
What is home? A place or person? A moment in time? A memory?
It was my first time reading a Pulley's book so I didn't know what to expect. I loved her way of wrapping history around her plot and characters. It made perfect sense and even the magical aspects of it felt real. Because, why not? Have you ever had a dΓ©jΓ vu? Have you ever felt a pull towards something or someone that you couldn't really explain?
What if all we are, are souls trying to find their way home through sorrow and time?
Come home, if you remember.
I loved the characters and their complexities, the beauty and ugliness of them. The way kindness always tries to survive even in the face of the horrors that make us monsters by necessity. I think Missouri will stay with me forever, I've loved him even before knowing who he was.
In line with the duality of characters and storylines, I found this novel both refreshing in its depiction of non-toxic masculinity (and the struggles it entails), and devastating in its depiction of violence and war. It was not an easy read.
However, I'm going to reread this book now, because it's one of those stories you'll enjoy more if you read them more than once. I read it quickly because of curiosity. I wanted to see if my theories were right (most of them were) but I want to bask in its poetry now.
π―πππ. π°π πππ ππππππ ππ πππππππ πππ π πππ.
I've been drawn to this book like a moth to a flame by the line "come home, if you remember" that appears on the cover. It gave me goosebumps, I wanted to know why.
What is home? A place or person? A moment in time? A memory?
It was my first time reading a Pulley's book so I didn't know what to expect. I loved her way of wrapping history around her plot and characters. It made perfect sense and even the magical aspects of it felt real. Because, why not? Have you ever had a dΓ©jΓ vu? Have you ever felt a pull towards something or someone that you couldn't really explain?
What if all we are, are souls trying to find their way home through sorrow and time?
Come home, if you remember.
I loved the characters and their complexities, the beauty and ugliness of them. The way kindness always tries to survive even in the face of the horrors that make us monsters by necessity. I think Missouri will stay with me forever, I've loved him even before knowing who he was.
In line with the duality of characters and storylines, I found this novel both refreshing in its depiction of non-toxic masculinity (and the struggles it entails), and devastating in its depiction of violence and war. It was not an easy read.
However, I'm going to reread this book now, because it's one of those stories you'll enjoy more if you read them more than once. I read it quickly because of curiosity. I wanted to see if my theories were right (most of them were) but I want to bask in its poetry now.
π―πππ. π°π πππ ππππππ ππ πππππππ πππ π πππ.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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:
Complicated
I got a little bit lost at times, because this jumps around in time and between narratives, but it was an interesting enough read that I stuck with it, hoping it would make sense at the end. It did. Time-travel lovers, pick it up. If you like stories set at sea, you'll like this, too. As a result of reading this while on vacation, I visited a maritime museum, and now I've added a few other books about ships and sea life to my to-read list.
I might look for other books by this author. The writing was good, and the characters have a likeability that provokes a sense of compassion.
I might look for other books by this author. The writing was good, and the characters have a likeability that provokes a sense of compassion.
adventurous
mysterious
Dearest Joe,
Come home, if you remember.
-M
My heart aches from this book. It is staggering and delicate and brutal, tender and clever and aching. I didn't want to put it down the entire time I was reading it, and I felt deeply immersed in the story with every page I turned.
It's a difficult story to describe due to the heavy role that time-travel (and its effect on the future) and memory have on the plot, so instead I will list a few things (in no particular order) that I enjoyed about the story:
β’ Natasha Pulley's writing. Lush, descriptive, and all-around beautiful.
β’ The craft and shape of the time-travel amnesia-riddled plot. Though it easily could have been confusing, it isn't, and I loved exploring the different times and uncovering the consequences that changes in the past wrought on the present
β’ Vivid setting descriptions! I also loved the unique places the story took place in, particularly the stretches in the lighthouse and on ships. Pulley's careful research certainly shined through with these!
β’ The action scenesβthe brutality of war is visceral in this story, and necessarily so. It doesn't pull its punches, and thus there are real consequences and real losses that are aching to read. These scenes were also paced beautifully, and kept me on the edge of my seat.
β’ The love story at the heart of the narrative. Oh my goodness, this is how you write a love story. It is so aching, so tender, so gentle, so desperate. It is easy to tell where it is going about 1/3 of the way into the story, but this felt purposeful to meβallowing readers to watch in all unfold, to feel the struggles of the characters, their thready hope, their anger, their hesitance, their love. It was everything I wanted and more
β’ Tigers and tortoises!
β’ There's a twin named Beatrix, and as a twin named Beatrix, I think that's pretty neat :)
Though the book was almost 5 stars for me, there were a few things that brought it up short:
β’ The female characters. The ones who exist are interesting and well-crafted characters, but they are not as prominent as the male characters. I would have liked to see a little more of them, and am also a bit disappointed about howAgatha's story ended, dying to further the story of the two male characters.
β’ The fallout ofKite killing Fred. Though he rationalizes it in his own mind, I feel like the story lacked repercussions from other characters beyond the initial shock of the event. I wish it was something that Joe wrestled with more, as he was initially mortified by it, only for it to drop away in the final acts of the book. It seems like a scene rich with complexity and nuance, and I would have liked to see it explored a bit more by the characters as a result.
Overall, a stunning read, perfect for fans of books like The 7Β½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, The Devil and the Dark Water, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. This was also a compelling introduction to Natasha Pulley's writing for me, and I look forward to picking up more of her books in the future!
Come home, if you remember.
-M
My heart aches from this book. It is staggering and delicate and brutal, tender and clever and aching. I didn't want to put it down the entire time I was reading it, and I felt deeply immersed in the story with every page I turned.
It's a difficult story to describe due to the heavy role that time-travel (and its effect on the future) and memory have on the plot, so instead I will list a few things (in no particular order) that I enjoyed about the story:
β’ Natasha Pulley's writing. Lush, descriptive, and all-around beautiful.
β’ The craft and shape of the time-travel amnesia-riddled plot. Though it easily could have been confusing, it isn't, and I loved exploring the different times and uncovering the consequences that changes in the past wrought on the present
β’ Vivid setting descriptions! I also loved the unique places the story took place in, particularly the stretches in the lighthouse and on ships. Pulley's careful research certainly shined through with these!
β’ The action scenesβthe brutality of war is visceral in this story, and necessarily so. It doesn't pull its punches, and thus there are real consequences and real losses that are aching to read. These scenes were also paced beautifully, and kept me on the edge of my seat.
β’ The love story at the heart of the narrative. Oh my goodness, this is how you write a love story. It is so aching, so tender, so gentle, so desperate. It is easy to tell where it is going about 1/3 of the way into the story, but this felt purposeful to meβallowing readers to watch in all unfold, to feel the struggles of the characters, their thready hope, their anger, their hesitance, their love. It was everything I wanted and more
β’ Tigers and tortoises!
β’ There's a twin named Beatrix, and as a twin named Beatrix, I think that's pretty neat :)
Though the book was almost 5 stars for me, there were a few things that brought it up short:
β’ The female characters. The ones who exist are interesting and well-crafted characters, but they are not as prominent as the male characters. I would have liked to see a little more of them, and am also a bit disappointed about how
β’ The fallout of
Overall, a stunning read, perfect for fans of books like The 7Β½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, The Devil and the Dark Water, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. This was also a compelling introduction to Natasha Pulley's writing for me, and I look forward to picking up more of her books in the future!
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
As Joe is helped from the train he is uneasy, his surroundings all at once familiar but different in some way he cannot grasp. Soon we find that Joe has amnesia, he isnβt alone in this but his journey is only just beginning.
The way Pulley grips the reader with the mystery that is Joe; half-Chinese and apparently a pedigree, in this alternate London where England fell to the French making slaves of the English and the English language illegal. We are right alongside him as day by day he lives this life, working off his indenture. As the small glimpses of something else are drip fed we are pulled in closer and closer, until it begins to unravel.
Then we are on a whirlwind adventure slipping back 100years to before the war was lost, to before England fell. There is tragedy, murder in the coldest of blood, war, naval battles, romance, joy, pain, and adventure.
The culmination is wonderful I loved the characters around Joe (there is a tiger!) as our protagonist, the mystery of who is friend or foe and nudges of hints to something more.
This has the sweetest most tender descriptions of non-sexual comforting touch in the main relationship that I have read in a long while. I could imagine them curled together, the way they held one another and fit.
One to read again to truly uncover its secrets.
The way Pulley grips the reader with the mystery that is Joe; half-Chinese and apparently a pedigree, in this alternate London where England fell to the French making slaves of the English and the English language illegal. We are right alongside him as day by day he lives this life, working off his indenture. As the small glimpses of something else are drip fed we are pulled in closer and closer, until it begins to unravel.
Then we are on a whirlwind adventure slipping back 100years to before the war was lost, to before England fell. There is tragedy, murder in the coldest of blood, war, naval battles, romance, joy, pain, and adventure.
The culmination is wonderful I loved the characters around Joe (there is a tiger!) as our protagonist, the mystery of who is friend or foe and nudges of hints to something more.
This has the sweetest most tender descriptions of non-sexual comforting touch in the main relationship that I have read in a long while. I could imagine them curled together, the way they held one another and fit.
One to read again to truly uncover its secrets.
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
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
adventurous
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was such an incredible read! I finished it in the small hours of the morning and now at 11:30am I am still feeling emotions!
I love how Pulley created such a complex and detailed world, and then put complex and detailed characters there to quite literally figure themselves out. I'm pretty sure there was an audible gasp from me when I figured out the truth. Then came the tears.
There are definitely some sections of this book though that had me shook, a lot of the battles and the deaths (which I had anticipated, and read anyway), and the details of those. But in saying that, the novel was beautifully written so I can't fault that which made me squeemish (especially as I knew about it coming in to the book).
As always the, subtle, slow burn romance and pining broke my heart multiple times then was fixed by the end of the book.
This was such a good read!! A definite reread will be needed but it will have to wait until I am emotionally steady again.
I love how Pulley created such a complex and detailed world, and then put complex and detailed characters there to quite literally figure themselves out. I'm pretty sure there was an audible gasp from me when I figured out the truth. Then came the tears.
There are definitely some sections of this book though that had me shook, a lot of the battles and the deaths (which I had anticipated, and read anyway), and the details of those. But in saying that, the novel was beautifully written so I can't fault that which made me squeemish (especially as I knew about it coming in to the book).
As always the, subtle, slow burn romance and pining broke my heart multiple times then was fixed by the end of the book.
This was such a good read!! A definite reread will be needed but it will have to wait until I am emotionally steady again.