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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
I'm still not entirely sure what to think of this book. It was bizarre from the first page, but also intriguing for the same reason. The language is very poetic and yet also visceral and blunt almost to the point of making a reader uncomfortable. Things are compared to insects and body parts a lot. But as the book went on and more characters were introduced, a lot of the connections between each segment of the book is left up to the reader to figure out and I found myself getting more and more lost as the book went on. The setting and just description in general seemed to be less based in reality and more on the subjective experience of the characters as the book went on as well, so I lost my sense of place and timeline and had a really hard time visualizing what was actually going on. Definitely a "literary" book, in the sense that there wasn't the typical plot arc and it is very experimental in structure and focus.
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
my biggest issue with this book is that it felt eco-fascist to me. there's one particular chunk where it says that humans colonized the earth and the animals were there first. yikes! in addition to that, it begins with a graphic rape scene that is never dealt with again. bad. you can't just throw rape in hoping it'll start things off with a bang without dealing with it. setting my idealogical problems with this book aside, i did not care about the characters and don't think they grew or changed.
I read reviews which said that a character pops up in the various short stories so I know I'm missing the overall message of the book but god did I not like the plots of the 3 short stories. The first one included a rape scene that I personally feel didn't add anything to the narrative - it didn't explore the trauma that inflicts on a person, it was just something that happened and I guess we move on to the next story! The next one being a short story about a man wanting to have sex with a foreigner who had come to visit his hometown that lives on a body of water. Then the third story was about a man being mauled by lions in a zoo as a result of a strange woman, probably the one who raped the woman in the first story, pushed him down and injured him. All in all, not the Southern Reach-adjacent story I thought I was getting.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So many books contain dream-like qualities or an atmosphere reminiscent of that moment before sleep - weird twilight-y things that aren't exactly real but aren't unreal, but this book doesn't just contain those qualities - it Ireads exactly like a dream (sometimes a nightmare). There are weird jumps to different places and times, constant anxiety and worry, and always something haunting or magical.
Thematically, everyone in these stories is hungry all the time. It starts out subtly and not about food but increases along the line of stories until the hunger is literal. Water, too, is everywhere. It invades the characters' lives, and homes offering life and death. Sometimes it's a calm lake, sometimes it's a raging river, and sometimes it's frozen, but it's always there and always
threatening.
At times the writing reminded me of the Southern Reach Trilogy - you only have the barest idea of what's actually happening plot-wise but there still seems to be so much happening and moving events forward. It also slightly reminds me of the graphic novel Sweet Tooth but mostly because I'm re-reading that series right now so it's easy to see the tiny things that match (mostly plague, fear, and mutation.)
A strange, complex little book that probably deserves more attention than it's getting.
Thematically, everyone in these stories is hungry all the time. It starts out subtly and not about food but increases along the line of stories until the hunger is literal. Water, too, is everywhere. It invades the characters' lives, and homes offering life and death. Sometimes it's a calm lake, sometimes it's a raging river, and sometimes it's frozen, but it's always there and always
threatening.
At times the writing reminded me of the Southern Reach Trilogy - you only have the barest idea of what's actually happening plot-wise but there still seems to be so much happening and moving events forward. It also slightly reminds me of the graphic novel Sweet Tooth but mostly because I'm re-reading that series right now so it's easy to see the tiny things that match (mostly plague, fear, and mutation.)
A strange, complex little book that probably deserves more attention than it's getting.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
WOW! What a short read but poignant. I listened to it as an audiobook and as a side note I think the reader had the perfect voice and tone for this book. It was dark, tense, intriguing and centered around a rapidly changing climate. The descriptions of the fauna were vivid and frightening. I really really enjoyed this!
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Rape
Ne me lancez pas des roches...
J'ai vraiment pas aimé.
Je n'ai pas compris. Ça ne m'a pas rejoint...
Comment dire..
L'ambiance était bien, vraiment bien. Puis, l'auteure m'a perdue.
Je n'ai jamais retrouvé le chemin après.
Je recommande tout de même à ceux qui aiment le fantastique, la science-fiction.
Si Christiane Vadnais écrit autre chose, je vais tout de même tenter. Son écriture était intéressante.
J'ai vraiment pas aimé.
Je n'ai pas compris. Ça ne m'a pas rejoint...
Comment dire..
L'ambiance était bien, vraiment bien. Puis, l'auteure m'a perdue.
Je n'ai jamais retrouvé le chemin après.
Je recommande tout de même à ceux qui aiment le fantastique, la science-fiction.
Si Christiane Vadnais écrit autre chose, je vais tout de même tenter. Son écriture était intéressante.