Reviews - The Turtle House

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238 reviews for:

The Turtle House

Amanda Churchill

4.09 AVERAGE

mcathreads's review against another edition

4.0

emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I really enjoyed the stories of the two main characters. The beginning of the novel was time consuming to get through because of the many Japanese words. Some I understood why the author kept them in Japanese- there isn't a good English translation- but others could easily have been put in English. I know someone who has 4 years of college Japanese and lived in Osaka for a year and she wasn't familiar with a few of the words. Once I got through that section, I could get absorbed in the character's lives. I was surprised that the author had little to say about the prejudice a Japanese women would experience moving to Texas in the 1950s. Racism was mentioned, but I imagine the impact of characters' lives would have been far greater than implied.

lb5's review against another edition

Wasn't connecting with characters - more.them telling you about external events than exploring through inner dialogue/feelings. Might have also been that it followed Hello Beautiful and The God of the Woods that just wrote characters the way I enjoy.

hayleehern25's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

overstimulatedmomreads's review against another edition

3.0

I wanted to really love this one. The cover is pretty and the blurb about it sounded great. There were many many 5 star reviews…however, I was so bored 60% of this book that it couldn’t redeem itself. I loved the main character, Mineko and her story. A historical fiction about pre war Japan and a move to Texas to start a new life. 3.5 stars for me.

emmiemerereads's review against another edition

4.0

emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

Lia returns home refusing to explain why. She spends her days with grandmother Mineko, who tells Lia her life story. In dual timeline chapters, Mineko's story of love, loss and sacrifice comes to light. As Lia grows closer to Mineko, her own story develops, as she figures out who she is and where she belongs.

I very much enjoyed this book. It was a little slow at times but I loved the author's style. Her writing was wonderfully descriptive - you really felt like you were there with the characters. I was glad she integrated Japanese words in the story, but without knowing the translations it could be difficult to process. I spent a lot of time looking things up, which I actually love so that part was ok for me.

Mineko is an amazing character. I loved old Mineko the best but her younger self was great too. I was with Mineko and Akio right from the start. His letter to her was heart wrenching and made me almost angry at history. I could have read a book of just Mineko. The reader really gets a good sense of the author's grandmother (who this was based off) and can so easily see how much she loved her.