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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Picked this one up because it was recommended to me as a shorter book, and I swore to myself I would read more horror written by women.
It was kind of a mixed bag for me personally, although the goods outweighed the bads in the end for me. I'm not really a fan of most "precocious children" stories, because the kids tend to really get on my nerves. Sometimes that works in the media's favor (Babadook is a brilliant example), but I tend to prefer them more like Moonrise Kingdom. Somehow this was in the middle of the two for me, and it seemed to be running relay races between the two, either on one far side or the other. I wasn't really gelling with the book's sense of humor with the kids for the first third of the book, but maybe that's just me being an adult now. The frustration you feel towards the kids' hyper-independence they cling to turns to bloody sadness after seeing how the adults respond to the hurricane. It's a harsh wake up call, especially when you or someone you know has gone through similar neglect. It doesn't feel unrealistic either; the adults in this book feel useless in a way that feels more real than most media with useless adults.
Unfortunately, it does have a lot of tropes that really give me the ick: the first of which is the Guys With Guns Without Morals that storm their camp and add more pressure, torturing the kid's temporary guardians and killing their pet animals. I really despise this trope; it just doesn't have any emotional impact anymore for me and just disgusts me. Thankfully, it only takes up a short bit of the book and the resolution is somewhat satisfying. I also really disliked that one of the girl's mom died during childbirth and the teen daughter imprinted on the baby, and became a mom through trauma. I know it's working with Bible allusions, but this is something I really hate in media. Forcing young girls into teen mom situations is not the kind of drama I like in my books, and dare I say this controversial opinion: not very feminist.
Overall, I think this is a really good example of a book with an interesting plot with unlikable characters that are still fascinating to watch. However, if you're someone who likes to have very likable characters and enjoy getting very attached to them, this may not be the book for you, because while they're easy to empathize with, they're hard to like. Especially Alicia. This is also one of the few books where I felt the ending was the best part rather than the middle or beginning.
It was kind of a mixed bag for me personally, although the goods outweighed the bads in the end for me. I'm not really a fan of most "precocious children" stories, because the kids tend to really get on my nerves. Sometimes that works in the media's favor (Babadook is a brilliant example), but I tend to prefer them more like Moonrise Kingdom. Somehow this was in the middle of the two for me, and it seemed to be running relay races between the two, either on one far side or the other. I wasn't really gelling with the book's sense of humor with the kids for the first third of the book, but maybe that's just me being an adult now. The frustration you feel towards the kids' hyper-independence they cling to turns to bloody sadness after seeing how the adults respond to the hurricane. It's a harsh wake up call, especially when you or someone you know has gone through similar neglect. It doesn't feel unrealistic either; the adults in this book feel useless in a way that feels more real than most media with useless adults.
Unfortunately, it does have a lot of tropes that really give me the ick: the first of which is the Guys With Guns Without Morals that storm their camp and add more pressure, torturing the kid's temporary guardians and killing their pet animals. I really despise this trope; it just doesn't have any emotional impact anymore for me and just disgusts me. Thankfully, it only takes up a short bit of the book and the resolution is somewhat satisfying. I also really disliked that one of the girl's mom died during childbirth and the teen daughter imprinted on the baby, and became a mom through trauma. I know it's working with Bible allusions, but this is something I really hate in media. Forcing young girls into teen mom situations is not the kind of drama I like in my books, and dare I say this controversial opinion: not very feminist.
Overall, I think this is a really good example of a book with an interesting plot with unlikable characters that are still fascinating to watch. However, if you're someone who likes to have very likable characters and enjoy getting very attached to them, this may not be the book for you, because while they're easy to empathize with, they're hard to like. Especially Alicia. This is also one of the few books where I felt the ending was the best part rather than the middle or beginning.
challenging
dark
funny
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I flew through this book!! The setting was really interesting to me. I picked this up after getting to the end of season three of Yellowjackets because I wanted another Lord Of The Flies-esque piece of media to fill the gap before season four is released. However, this is pretty far from Lord Of The Flies. I'd highly suggest keeping that in mind if you pick this up. A Children's Bible is really a social commentary about climate change!!
The reason this wasn't a five-star read for me was that at times it felt as if the author was purposely trying to be offensive and vulgar for little to no reason. The free use of slurs in a book from 2020 is actually wild!! Some of the language is challenged by the characters in this book. However, one slur in particular is not. In fact, other characters piggyback off of the slur to explain how stupid they agree a character is. I understand that we aren't supposed to like these characters or agree with their actions. Yet, it still left a bad taste in my mouth.
The reason this wasn't a five-star read for me was that at times it felt as if the author was purposely trying to be offensive and vulgar for little to no reason. The free use of slurs in a book from 2020 is actually wild!! Some of the language is challenged by the characters in this book. However, one slur in particular is not. In fact, other characters piggyback off of the slur to explain how stupid they agree a character is. I understand that we aren't supposed to like these characters or agree with their actions. Yet, it still left a bad taste in my mouth.
3.7 maybe?
An extremely unique novel that viscerally talks about the anguish of a generation failed by their predecessors, the nonchalance towards a climate Armageddon, and children, driven feral, forced to create their own social order much in the same flavour as Lord of the Flies, except more optimistic.
More than a narrative, it is chock full and dripping with symbols, incredibly glaring Biblical motifs in a context that is modern yet timeless and surreal yet grounded. There's a storm and a flood, a birth in a barn, trail angels, a mysterious saviour etc. However, towards the middle the novel abandons it's strange hazy allegorical tone and heavily genre shifts into a post apocalyptic survival story.
I thought that while there were interesting ideas here, definitely, they were just those-ideas. They weren't crafted or strung together with that much expertise and the reader is left to pick up much of the pieces. And the elements that are supposed to be obvious and messages and morals we're supposed to walk away with are thoroughly spelled out- God is nature, Jesus is science, the Holy Spirit is art. Blah blah blah is how we must deal with the climate crisis. I think there is a much better balance that can be struck here in regards to planting themes without being super explicit with them. All that said I did get chills reading about these rich deluded parents who preferred to distract themselves from the pillaged world around them by clinging on to sex, drugs etc. and most of all a sense of false normalcy-they continued to go to work via video calls. Seems very familiar when you think about the hellscape world we live in today.
Despite a number of misgivings I'm glad I read this book. I can't say I've read anything of this nature before. Although, I was reminded of the Satoshi Kon film, Tokyo Godfathers at certain points.
An extremely unique novel that viscerally talks about the anguish of a generation failed by their predecessors, the nonchalance towards a climate Armageddon, and children, driven feral, forced to create their own social order much in the same flavour as Lord of the Flies, except more optimistic.
More than a narrative, it is chock full and dripping with symbols, incredibly glaring Biblical motifs in a context that is modern yet timeless and surreal yet grounded. There's a storm and a flood, a birth in a barn, trail angels, a mysterious saviour etc. However, towards the middle the novel abandons it's strange hazy allegorical tone and heavily genre shifts into a post apocalyptic survival story.
I thought that while there were interesting ideas here, definitely, they were just those-ideas. They weren't crafted or strung together with that much expertise and the reader is left to pick up much of the pieces. And the elements that are supposed to be obvious and messages and morals we're supposed to walk away with are thoroughly spelled out- God is nature, Jesus is science, the Holy Spirit is art. Blah blah blah is how we must deal with the climate crisis. I think there is a much better balance that can be struck here in regards to planting themes without being super explicit with them. All that said I did get chills reading about these rich deluded parents who preferred to distract themselves from the pillaged world around them by clinging on to sex, drugs etc. and most of all a sense of false normalcy-they continued to go to work via video calls. Seems very familiar when you think about the hellscape world we live in today.
Despite a number of misgivings I'm glad I read this book. I can't say I've read anything of this nature before. Although, I was reminded of the Satoshi Kon film, Tokyo Godfathers at certain points.
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What the actual fuck, haha, this was so wild. I’ve had this on my shelf for a while because I loved Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet a couple of years ago, and got some backlist of hers to enjoy later. But wowza, this could not have been more different from Dinosaurs!! Not at all in terms of the quality, which was totally amazing here as well — but just the entire tenor of the book, its span and the way its characters interact and what it seems to feel about the world. It’s amazing to me that an author can write with such lucidity, so convincingly, a book that is as gentle and tender-hearted as Dinosaurs, as full of love and hopefulness about other human beings; and then, with equal deftness and a sort of razor-sharp knife for a pen, write this harrowing dystopian work that is A Children’s Bible, spitting virulent terrors (all true, I fear) about the ways human beings interact and what lies ahead because of it. Just wild. The writing in this is astonishing and full of bite — I inhaled it in a day and I can’t imagine a better way to either spend some hours or to freak oneself out more. Just wow — can’t wait to read more Millet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
No