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leoniepeonie's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
I thought this was incredibly beautiful. I was dead set on giving it five stars from the first couple of chapters and that wavered a little bit towards the end, so it's ended up a 4.5.
Ní Dochartaigh's writing style is just dripping with gorgeous imagery and feeling and I relished the way she played with words. I listened to this as an audiobook and it really lends itself to that medium, read aloud like poetry rather than prose at some points. The author narrated it herself (I listened to it at 1.2x speed without noticing any strangeness, as she spoke very slowly) and each word felt very purposeful and precise to the point that I was just lost in it at times. It was a moving, meandering piece that knitted together grief and loss and trauma with landscapes and human customs, and a sense of things lying outside of time. I really look for and love coincidence and meaning in the natural world and this played with that beautifully.
One complaint is that I felt the book went on a little too long - as awed as I was by the beauty of it, I started to feel overwhelmed towards the end and found that the last chapter was quite repetitive and obvious in being an attempt to tie things together nicely. I felt like I had my head around the timeline of ní Dochartaigh's life by about halfway through the book too, and then felt disorientated when she started picking back over that timeline with extra details and it got me pretty confused. A tighter edit might have helped clear that up, but those issues aside, this was gorgeous. I'd been convinced I'd buy it in print and read it again, but she might have lost me with that ending.
Ní Dochartaigh's writing style is just dripping with gorgeous imagery and feeling and I relished the way she played with words. I listened to this as an audiobook and it really lends itself to that medium, read aloud like poetry rather than prose at some points. The author narrated it herself (I listened to it at 1.2x speed without noticing any strangeness, as she spoke very slowly) and each word felt very purposeful and precise to the point that I was just lost in it at times. It was a moving, meandering piece that knitted together grief and loss and trauma with landscapes and human customs, and a sense of things lying outside of time. I really look for and love coincidence and meaning in the natural world and this played with that beautifully.
One complaint is that I felt the book went on a little too long - as awed as I was by the beauty of it, I started to feel overwhelmed towards the end and found that the last chapter was quite repetitive and obvious in being an attempt to tie things together nicely. I felt like I had my head around the timeline of ní Dochartaigh's life by about halfway through the book too, and then felt disorientated when she started picking back over that timeline with extra details and it got me pretty confused. A tighter edit might have helped clear that up, but those issues aside, this was gorgeous. I'd been convinced I'd buy it in print and read it again, but she might have lost me with that ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Grief
carstaruk's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Kerri has accompanied me these first days of January 2024 as I have read her words in print and listened to Kerri's voice on audio. Evocative of place and time and so much more I am yet to articulate. Thank you so much for sharing yourself with us.
sbhatnag's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book as part of the Goodreads Giveaway. I couldn't decide whether to give this book a 3 or 4 stars. So poetically written - layered in every way imaginable - it often felt hazy, in between the concrete and the intangible - like the very thin places Kerri ní Dochartaigh writes of. It was a quiet book, so if you didn't pay close attention to the words or got caught up in the haze, you could doze off while reading the melodious prose. And then there were moments where she articulated something you have long felt but didn't have the words to describe. There is something about Irish writers that I find sublime - not sure if it is the effect of the old Irish language meeting modern English, the history of storytelling, the connection with the other world, and nature - but this book was no exception.
riaryan's review
3.0
A book about growing up as a neutral in Derry during the latter stages of the troubles right up to the brexit vote, interspersed with the existence of nature and the beauty of language.
noahbw's review
4.0
Very intimate depiction of trauma (both personal and national) and slow healing, paired with close attention to place and natural world.
akooda7's review against another edition
3.0
If you are interested in trauma and healing - and can also handle the very real experiences and feelings of the book. The writing was a challenge for me but to be fair - I’m on the mend and it just reminded me of some things. Having been to Ireland, the author did bring me right back to some of its places. I also thought a lot about a few ancestors and relationships in my life that the book’s experience brought to mind.