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annetjeberg's review
4.0
This book sneaks up on you. It is the slowly accelerating downfall of a Taiwanese immigrant family in Alaska through the eyes of 10-year-old Gavin. Haunting, painful and so beautiful too.
Recommended.
Recommended.
manaledi's review
2.0
Meh. I couldn't make myself get into this. The premise is fine, but character development is weak.
gfruzsi's review
5.0
The Unpassing follows a Taiwanese immigrant family in the hard terrains of Alaska as they attempt to get through day after day following the death of the youngest child. Visceral yet unforgiving, with small pockets of tenderness, this book explores the importance of identity, family, and community in a time and place where grieving is private but the consequences are very much shared.
It’s told through the point of view of ten-year-old Gavin, and it’s the narration that made this exceptionally raw and emotional book a revelation for me - I believed every word for its innocence, frankness and childlike quality, much the same way as you’d believe any young kid because they have nothing to gain from not telling things exactly as they perceive them.
As someone whose family migrated halfway across the world, these words spoke to me on a very deep level: “It was a kind of violence, what my father had done. He had brought us to a place we didn’t belong, and taken us from a place we did. Now we yearned for all places and found peace in none.”
Overall The Unpassing is a lyrical, melancholic, quiet meditation on the ugly parts of ourselves, as well as the beautiful. It was easily a 5-star read for me.
It’s told through the point of view of ten-year-old Gavin, and it’s the narration that made this exceptionally raw and emotional book a revelation for me - I believed every word for its innocence, frankness and childlike quality, much the same way as you’d believe any young kid because they have nothing to gain from not telling things exactly as they perceive them.
As someone whose family migrated halfway across the world, these words spoke to me on a very deep level: “It was a kind of violence, what my father had done. He had brought us to a place we didn’t belong, and taken us from a place we did. Now we yearned for all places and found peace in none.”
Overall The Unpassing is a lyrical, melancholic, quiet meditation on the ugly parts of ourselves, as well as the beautiful. It was easily a 5-star read for me.
tactiics's review
4.0
-the wilderness is an obvious character - so wild & stark & completely inevitable
-when you are young there is no need to define yourself - in fact you don't even realize how amorphous you are - but this book captures the moments when you start to feel definition closing in on you but also escaping you when you try to grasp it... the worst would be to be defined by things you could not control and deeply regret
-the momentum of each family member - like spiraling arms of a storm, pulling into each other and away at the same time
-very heartbreaking throughout
-when you are young there is no need to define yourself - in fact you don't even realize how amorphous you are - but this book captures the moments when you start to feel definition closing in on you but also escaping you when you try to grasp it... the worst would be to be defined by things you could not control and deeply regret
-the momentum of each family member - like spiraling arms of a storm, pulling into each other and away at the same time
-very heartbreaking throughout
siriface's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Grief
alv1nn's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
illymally's review
3.0
I usually have a hard time with fiction taking place in a setting I'm very familiar with. I grew up in Anchorage in the 80s so was certain I wouldn't be able to read this. But it treated the setting in a more subtle way rather than making it precious. Mostly, I loved the environmental descriptions, less so the specifics like the bore tide.