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ez_heath's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, Abandonment, Grief, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, Suicide, and Emotional abuse
unfiltered_fiction's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Emotional abuse, Death, and Hate crime
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Murder, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury
ameliasbooks's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
This was a bit too repetitive in parts and also a bit too woo-woo for my taste sometimes. I am not talking about folklore or the history of a land here, which I deeply respect. I am only talking about some personal reflections by the author.
The story is mainly about the author's personal trauma caused by The Troubles (and other somehow related incidents in her life), but not to the extent, I expected it to be. It's also about the author's relationship with nature in general, but especially with her home country. It didn't need to be that long for what it was able to say, so it definitely could have done with some better editing.
What I liked most about this book were the reflections on the devastating impact Brexit has on Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and the valid fears that come with that.
Some beautiful sentences and reflections in there though, but just not enough for me to fall in love with this book completely.
The story is mainly about the author's personal trauma caused by The Troubles (and other somehow related incidents in her life), but not to the extent, I expected it to be. It's also about the author's relationship with nature in general, but especially with her home country. It didn't need to be that long for what it was able to say, so it definitely could have done with some better editing.
What I liked most about this book were the reflections on the devastating impact Brexit has on Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and the valid fears that come with that.
Some beautiful sentences and reflections in there though, but just not enough for me to fall in love with this book completely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Addiction, Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Emotional abuse
monalyisha's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
I feel strongly about this book as a physical object; I think it might be the prettiest book I’ve ever seen, with the gossamer wings of a moth gracing its cover. My feelings about the words inside are more complicated. The author tells of her life growing up in Ireland, specifically in Derry, at the center of the Troubles, in a mixed religion household. Her childhood home is bombed with her inside.
Though she and her family escape, the rest of her life is marked by this trauma and more. Her best friend is senselessly murdered when she’s 16, in a place (not Derry) that she’d just begun to think of as “safe.” She battles alcoholism, depression, and suicidal ideation, as well as physical illness. She struggles to escape abusive relationships with others and with herself.
Though she finds sanctuary in nature (especially in the water, as well as through a connection with winged things), this isn’t an easy book. The story the words tell isn’t an easy one. Neither are the words themselves easy; oftentimes, sentences are fractured, mirroring the brokenness inside. The teller is also unabashedly in love with certain ideas — liminal spaces, in particular (see: title) — and I think the voice of those ideas sometimes overshadows her own, unique voice.
I wish there had been more structure, too - that each chapter had been more like a separate essay. It almost feels as though each page is written like it’s the end of the book, like the language is coming together and everything is wrapping up, continually. But then…it doesn’t. It keeps going. It’s as if she has become so sick of boundaries that her words and her work have none of the typical ones I’ve come to expect. And that’s not wrong. It’s just not easy. Dochartaigh’s deep consciousness of language sometimes reads as affected; when it doesn’t, it dips, soars, and sparkles.
I struggled as a reader at times. But on some level, that feels sort-of right. I’m glad that the author has come to a place where she’s so herself and is no longer afraid if her story makes other people feel unsettled. Even if I was unsure about the particulars of the telling, I was never uninterested or unbothered. I would read more by Kerri ni Dochartaigh - with the foreknowledge that I’d need to be comfortable with moving through her words slowly and with patient attention - which, fittingly, is also what nature asks of us.
Though she and her family escape, the rest of her life is marked by this trauma and more. Her best friend is senselessly murdered when she’s 16, in a place (not Derry) that she’d just begun to think of as “safe.” She battles alcoholism, depression, and suicidal ideation, as well as physical illness. She struggles to escape abusive relationships with others and with herself.
Though she finds sanctuary in nature (especially in the water, as well as through a connection with winged things), this isn’t an easy book. The story the words tell isn’t an easy one. Neither are the words themselves easy; oftentimes, sentences are fractured, mirroring the brokenness inside. The teller is also unabashedly in love with certain ideas — liminal spaces, in particular (see: title) — and I think the voice of those ideas sometimes overshadows her own, unique voice.
I wish there had been more structure, too - that each chapter had been more like a separate essay. It almost feels as though each page is written like it’s the end of the book, like the language is coming together and everything is wrapping up, continually. But then…it doesn’t. It keeps going. It’s as if she has become so sick of boundaries that her words and her work have none of the typical ones I’ve come to expect. And that’s not wrong. It’s just not easy. Dochartaigh’s deep consciousness of language sometimes reads as affected; when it doesn’t, it dips, soars, and sparkles.
I struggled as a reader at times. But on some level, that feels sort-of right. I’m glad that the author has come to a place where she’s so herself and is no longer afraid if her story makes other people feel unsettled. Even if I was unsure about the particulars of the telling, I was never uninterested or unbothered. I would read more by Kerri ni Dochartaigh - with the foreknowledge that I’d need to be comfortable with moving through her words slowly and with patient attention - which, fittingly, is also what nature asks of us.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Violence
jaime_c's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.0
I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, which as a review is unfair.
I found what Dochartaigh was attempting was interesting; I enjoyed being teased with certain details, and left with unknown gaps to fill (such as being left to really consider the broken pieces of her immediate family). I enjoyed how she played with what was left unsaid.
However, the text I found overall very repetitive. I found myself skimming certain passages, sure I’d already read them. By the final chapters I was tired of the style, of the circling and recircling/recycling of themes.
I appreciate that this book will speak deeply to some. The parts I loved were discussions of thin places and her relationship with her grandfather. I found this very open and tender.
I found what Dochartaigh was attempting was interesting; I enjoyed being teased with certain details, and left with unknown gaps to fill (such as being left to really consider the broken pieces of her immediate family). I enjoyed how she played with what was left unsaid.
However, the text I found overall very repetitive. I found myself skimming certain passages, sure I’d already read them. By the final chapters I was tired of the style, of the circling and recircling/recycling of themes.
I appreciate that this book will speak deeply to some. The parts I loved were discussions of thin places and her relationship with her grandfather. I found this very open and tender.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Alcoholism, and Addiction
grace_lola14's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Violence
Minor: Suicide attempt and Emotional abuse
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