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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Historical fiction wrapped in a ghost story. Some beautiful language here & a look at some topics during WWII that haven’t been extensively tackled in YA lit.
I finished this minutes ago and I need to write down how it made me feel. At first I held this book and tried to sleep but I couldn't, so here I am.
This book is ferociously beautiful, a supernova explosion of the most gorgeous, compelling, fierce writing - ever, in my memory of reading. It's a well-written work that hadn't particularly shaken me until the last 50 or so pages, but holy hell (apt). It's the most gratifying and emboldening ending.
I just love it. I have no words.
This book is ferociously beautiful, a supernova explosion of the most gorgeous, compelling, fierce writing - ever, in my memory of reading. It's a well-written work that hadn't particularly shaken me until the last 50 or so pages, but holy hell (apt). It's the most gratifying and emboldening ending.
I just love it. I have no words.
I really liked the setting for this time period. I thought Ruby did a great job managing Pearl and Frankie's stories without spending too much on one, while also weaving them together. I loved how the ending wasn't too neat, it was sort of happy but you also were left with a little bit of is that it? And I can't imagine how hard it must have been to be given to an orphanage by your parents and then visited by them once a month.
Laura Ruby is such an impressive writer. Compelling story and such high quality.
Four shimmery, luminescent stars for this magical realism/historical novel.
The narrative shifts between that of Frankie and Pearl, the ghost of a young woman who died 25 years earlier. Pearl narrates the whole book, and at times the narrative reflects the transience of Pearl's existence as a ghost -- her ability to travel almost instantly throughout the city, see other ghosts and interact with some of them, and see and interact with living people (although most do not notice her).
If I had to sum up this book in one sentence, it would be this:
Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All is a story about the challenges that girls and women face in all stages of life, the anguish and pain they receive at the hands of others as a result of their innocent/natural desires, hopes, appetites, dreams, and cravings.
While a sad novel in many ways, the ending was uplifting, and I am thankful for that. This was a hard book to read at times, not just because the ghostly narration is difficult to follow at times, but because of the topics addressed. Rape, murder, imprisonment (in asylums), physical abuse, unwed pregnancy and the related treatment of unwed mothers in the 1920s and 30s, racism, grief, loss, war, blended families, abandonment, neglect, insanity.
Other reviewers have complained that Laura Ruby tried to address too many topics in this book. I can see their point, but I feel that the overarching theme -- of girls/women being unnecessarily punished for their hopes/dreams/appetites -- ties it all together in a package of sorts. It's not an entirely neat package, true, but I feel like having found that overarching theme allowed me to accept all of the topics addressed without feeling completely lost.
And Laura Ruby's writing is truly beautiful. She reminded me of Sarah Addison Allen's luminescent prose. I do adore magical realism when it's done well, and Laura Ruby is definitely polishing this specific skill.
The narrative shifts between that of Frankie and Pearl, the ghost of a young woman who died 25 years earlier. Pearl narrates the whole book, and at times the narrative reflects the transience of Pearl's existence as a ghost -- her ability to travel almost instantly throughout the city, see other ghosts and interact with some of them, and see and interact with living people (although most do not notice her).
If I had to sum up this book in one sentence, it would be this:
Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All is a story about the challenges that girls and women face in all stages of life, the anguish and pain they receive at the hands of others as a result of their innocent/natural desires, hopes, appetites, dreams, and cravings.
While a sad novel in many ways, the ending was uplifting, and I am thankful for that. This was a hard book to read at times, not just because the ghostly narration is difficult to follow at times, but because of the topics addressed. Rape, murder, imprisonment (in asylums), physical abuse, unwed pregnancy and the related treatment of unwed mothers in the 1920s and 30s, racism, grief, loss, war, blended families, abandonment, neglect, insanity.
Other reviewers have complained that Laura Ruby tried to address too many topics in this book. I can see their point, but I feel that the overarching theme -- of girls/women being unnecessarily punished for their hopes/dreams/appetites -- ties it all together in a package of sorts. It's not an entirely neat package, true, but I feel like having found that overarching theme allowed me to accept all of the topics addressed without feeling completely lost.
And Laura Ruby's writing is truly beautiful. She reminded me of Sarah Addison Allen's luminescent prose. I do adore magical realism when it's done well, and Laura Ruby is definitely polishing this specific skill.
This is maybe closer to 3.5 stars, but gets a Laura Ruby bump. "Bone Gap" is one of my all time favorite books, and while "Thirteen Doorways" doesn't have quite the same magic, it still has Ruby's signature, vivid world-building and compelling characters.
I'm a sucker for war books. This was was good but it didn't grip me. Did it play my heartstrings? Yes! But there wasn't a part where I was like "I can't put this down". If you're looking for an easy but good read this is it.
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
I love learning new things about the history of my hometown, Chicago. Then add ghosts, WWII, and some complex family drama...well, who could ask for anything more? Thirteen Doorways will have the reader rooting for the dead and the living as these women try to find their way in life even though the world seems to crumble around them. Sad, funny, infuriating, and suspenseful, the pages of this book will turn late into the night.
