You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
I’m surprised so many gave this book lesser stars. Maybe they didn’t ‘get it’ or weren’t prepared in advance what this book would be like.
I did hear a review of this book before I read it so I knew to expect a bit of a jolt partway through. This book did have me feeling for the characters and it was easy enough to see the related allegory. There were parts of the book I didn’t like but when I analyzed that, I realized it’s because some of the plots reach too close to home. It’s a novel that makes you think and feel and I can see why the NYT book review suggested it.
I did hear a review of this book before I read it so I knew to expect a bit of a jolt partway through. This book did have me feeling for the characters and it was easy enough to see the related allegory. There were parts of the book I didn’t like but when I analyzed that, I realized it’s because some of the plots reach too close to home. It’s a novel that makes you think and feel and I can see why the NYT book review suggested it.
Eve and 11 other preteen/teens are vacationing with their parents when a great flood wrecks havoc. There is chaos throughout the land. The children escape to an empty house where they are shepherded by a kind man. Soon they are joined by angels (people who leave food for others on the Appalachian Trail). And they must all band together to fight evil when a marauding group descends upon them. This apocalyptical novel mirrors events in the Bible. I enjoyed it up to the ending. The dysfunction of the parents was too much for me.
I’m not sure I enjoyed reading this book but I’m positive I’m going to be thinking about it for a long time to come. It’s the kind of book I want to talk about with a great English teacher - a really effective allegory that’s both timeless and precisely of the now.
I reread this for my book club with more intention.
Initially I gave this book 4 stars but changed to 5. This book is the first one in a long time that really has me thinking beyond the story. Powerful symbolism throughout the book makes me want to go back and read again through different lenses. This is a book that will stick with you if you read it with an open mind.
Initially I gave this book 4 stars but changed to 5. This book is the first one in a long time that really has me thinking beyond the story. Powerful symbolism throughout the book makes me want to go back and read again through different lenses. This is a book that will stick with you if you read it with an open mind.
A fascinating, psychological read. It started in one place and went to somewhere I did not expect. A modern day Lord of the Flies that asks a lot of questions about society, responsibility, and family.
A finalist for the 2030 National book award I read it without reading the blurb .To be very honest I wouldn’t have picked up a book with this title as I would assume it was somehow biblical stories
Imagine what happens if you rent a large house with your friends for a whole summer and just let yourselves go .it starts with the parents drinking and partying abc drinking some more and leaving the teenagers and pre terms to themselves.The kids have a great time until it all starts to go wrong
There is an apocalyptic event starting with storms and the world begins to deteriorate the kids leave their parents as they clearly are useless when it comes to an emergency
Lord of the flies for the 21st Century.
I’d lost my belief in events in the last 3rd of the book as some of the i risk subtlety is lost
Imagine what happens if you rent a large house with your friends for a whole summer and just let yourselves go .it starts with the parents drinking and partying abc drinking some more and leaving the teenagers and pre terms to themselves.The kids have a great time until it all starts to go wrong
There is an apocalyptic event starting with storms and the world begins to deteriorate the kids leave their parents as they clearly are useless when it comes to an emergency
Lord of the flies for the 21st Century.
I’d lost my belief in events in the last 3rd of the book as some of the i risk subtlety is lost
Lydia Millet's "A Children's Bible" was a different type of dystopian thriller. Imagine a world of adults that have never grown up and on vacation all they want to do is get drunk, do drugs, and have illicit sex with people who are not their spouse. In Millet's dystopian dream it is the "responsible" teenagers who take care of their parents when the world is ending.
Millet does an excellent job developing characters and creating this alternate reality of the future. But I am not sure who the target audience is. Is it trying to shame adults about their callous attitude towards climate change or is it trying to empower kids to step up to save the world? I think the story falls flat on both fronts.
Millet's book might have been more of a cautionary tale, allegory of the ongoing climate crisis, but as plausible story that you can actually believe and stick with throughout it is a reach. I thought her idea of mature teenagers that step up when their parents cower in fear seems particularly problematic.
This book is an overly ambitious leap that is well written, has nicely developed characters, but ultimately, it wasn't something I could really follow down that rabbit hole.
I received this eBook free of charge from W.W. Norton & Company via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I did not receive any fiscal compensation from either company for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.
Millet does an excellent job developing characters and creating this alternate reality of the future. But I am not sure who the target audience is. Is it trying to shame adults about their callous attitude towards climate change or is it trying to empower kids to step up to save the world? I think the story falls flat on both fronts.
Millet's book might have been more of a cautionary tale, allegory of the ongoing climate crisis, but as plausible story that you can actually believe and stick with throughout it is a reach. I thought her idea of mature teenagers that step up when their parents cower in fear seems particularly problematic.
This book is an overly ambitious leap that is well written, has nicely developed characters, but ultimately, it wasn't something I could really follow down that rabbit hole.
I received this eBook free of charge from W.W. Norton & Company via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I did not receive any fiscal compensation from either company for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.
I did not finish this, so I'm not rating it. I do, however, feel compelled to leave a review, because I read ca. 70% and that was enough for me to realize why this novel just did not work for me.
If you want the short version: it didn't work due to a combination of issues. There was a a multitude of characters, an unrealistic plot, a lack of emotional depth, and a lack of urgency.
The number of characters and lack of emotional depth are closely intertwined: it's hard to get to know everyone when there is a large cast of characters. But the issue already starts with the narrator: Evie tells this story, but I don't know who she is. She loves her little brother Jack...but that's it.
That's the extent of her characterization.
How am I supposed to care about a character I don't know anything about?
The same holds true for all the other characters. They are only described superficially - one is adopted (randomly), one has annoying little sisters, one is deaf. They all feel like cardboard cut-outs, so that I had difficulty keeping them apart.
More importantly, the story doesn't seem to go anywhere. It is a sequence of a events, without anything that drives the plot: we are all in a summer house. We are playing a game. We are bored. We are going on a camping trip. So what? Why am I reading about these people? What do they want, need, require? What makes them lie awake at night?
I truly don't know.
As a result, the story just kind of...meanders (that word is overused these days, but in this case, it really applies).
To give you just one example: the key event in this story is a huge, threatening storm.
However, since I'm not invested in Evie or any of the other characters, I just didn't care, and on top of that this momentous event is described very flatly:
"The storm hit full-force in the middle of the night. I'd lain sleepless on my pad on the floor, listening to the shudder of the walls as gusts buffeted them. So I was wide awake when a branch crashed through the attic window and kept on going, tearing part of the roof as it fell.
The power had been knocked out: flipping the switch did nothing" (61).
I'm really trying to analyze what is bothering so much here, and it is the matter-of-fact tone of it all. It's as if Evie is narrating all of this completely without any affect. She is emotionless.
Added to my frustration was the unrealistic aspect of the plot. I'll happily suspend my disbelief when I'm reading, but the story-world needs to make me believe that whatever is happening, could be happening.
That was not the case here.
Also, they stumble upon this guy Burl and just...decide to go with him? Immediately? Within a page or two? What?
Generally, I don't mind introspective novels, or novels in which very little happens in the way of plot (see Villette, or Pnin).
But I need urgency.
Without any sort of incentive, character-based or otherwise, the story falls completely flat, and that is what happened here. Why this was nominated for the National Book Award is beyond me.
Perhaps I would've found out why if I read the last 30%, but I just couldn't be bothered.
If you want the short version: it didn't work due to a combination of issues. There was a a multitude of characters, an unrealistic plot, a lack of emotional depth, and a lack of urgency.
The number of characters and lack of emotional depth are closely intertwined: it's hard to get to know everyone when there is a large cast of characters. But the issue already starts with the narrator: Evie tells this story, but I don't know who she is. She loves her little brother Jack...but that's it.
That's the extent of her characterization.
How am I supposed to care about a character I don't know anything about?
The same holds true for all the other characters. They are only described superficially - one is adopted (randomly), one has annoying little sisters, one is deaf. They all feel like cardboard cut-outs, so that I had difficulty keeping them apart.
More importantly, the story doesn't seem to go anywhere. It is a sequence of a events, without anything that drives the plot: we are all in a summer house. We are playing a game. We are bored. We are going on a camping trip. So what? Why am I reading about these people? What do they want, need, require? What makes them lie awake at night?
I truly don't know.
As a result, the story just kind of...meanders (that word is overused these days, but in this case, it really applies).
To give you just one example: the key event in this story is a huge, threatening storm.
However, since I'm not invested in Evie or any of the other characters, I just didn't care, and on top of that this momentous event is described very flatly:
"The storm hit full-force in the middle of the night. I'd lain sleepless on my pad on the floor, listening to the shudder of the walls as gusts buffeted them. So I was wide awake when a branch crashed through the attic window and kept on going, tearing part of the roof as it fell.
The power had been knocked out: flipping the switch did nothing" (61).
I'm really trying to analyze what is bothering so much here, and it is the matter-of-fact tone of it all. It's as if Evie is narrating all of this completely without any affect. She is emotionless.
Added to my frustration was the unrealistic aspect of the plot. I'll happily suspend my disbelief when I'm reading, but the story-world needs to make me believe that whatever is happening, could be happening.
That was not the case here.
Spoiler
There is no way that a group of ten parents (or so) lets a group of underage children camp outside in a tree house while there is a flood and a thunder storm. I don't care how high or drunk these parents are - there's no way that would happen.Also, they stumble upon this guy Burl and just...decide to go with him? Immediately? Within a page or two? What?
Generally, I don't mind introspective novels, or novels in which very little happens in the way of plot (see Villette, or Pnin).
But I need urgency.
Without any sort of incentive, character-based or otherwise, the story falls completely flat, and that is what happened here. Why this was nominated for the National Book Award is beyond me.
Perhaps I would've found out why if I read the last 30%, but I just couldn't be bothered.
Pen Pal Reading Challenge: book with a cover I love
Heads up for anyone with climate anxiety. (So, all of us?) Incredibly well-written - I read it in one go.
Heads up for anyone with climate anxiety. (So, all of us?) Incredibly well-written - I read it in one go.