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hollyenglish's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The writing is beautiful but ultimately I just found this book deeply frustrating. Go into this book knowing you will not get all the answers you might want. I also found the repeated character names across the stories added needless confusion.
I think most reviews I've seen thought the second story was the worst one but that was probably my favourite. I much preferred the first two to the final story in the volume. Maybe I just wasn't ready to read about pandemics though! The author certainly does a good job describing a dystopian future.
I think most reviews I've seen thought the second story was the worst one but that was probably my favourite. I much preferred the first two to the final story in the volume. Maybe I just wasn't ready to read about pandemics though! The author certainly does a good job describing a dystopian future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Grief
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, Racism, and Homophobia
Minor: Rape
erebus53's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
CW: pandemic, lab testing on animals, armed police, dystopia, military law, radicalisation/terrorism, chronic illness, seizures, environmental destruction, arranged marriage, internment camps etc.
Spanning roughly 200 hundred years this is a book about a world similar to our own but subtly different. It starts in the 1890s in an America which has some areas where it is legal to marry anyone you wish. It discusses 1990s in the same place only with a backdrop of the looming spectre of HIV. The final part is in the 2090s after waves of pandemics have changed the face of the First World into a dystopian vision of strict controls and segregation.
The book discusses health and frailty, chronic illness, being gay, the idea of inheritance and Legacy, life and treatment of migrants of ethnic minority, and love, feud, vulnerability, and .. people being people.
When I got the audiobook I had no idea it was such a long read (over 900 pages or 28+hours in the Audiobook) but the story wasn't really slow.. it just had a LOT in it. It seemed a poetic decision to have a recurring set of names and places. Partly this was to reinforce the continuity of lineage, inheritance and flow of time. Looking at things from different cultural perspectives over time highlights the changes caused by the passage of time, but also the similarities.
This book is artful and tells the stories within it through letters, memories, and stories told to others. It leans hard into the Hawaiian / Pacific Islands' oral tradition, and also highlights the place of those shared stories we tell each other, and how they cement families and communities. It also shows how that knowledge can be so fragile and be lost to time when ideas are not shared or if they cannot be passed on well.
This story starts as a piece of historical speculative fiction, but the latter parts of the book are set in a police state. Published in 2022, this book clearly channels a lot of the common ground we have experienced in the face of global pandemic. Freedom of information, and the radicalisation of rebels and conspiracy theorists against government control, are sympathetically highlighted by the use of main characters on both sides of the fence, one working for the government to limit the casualties of disease, and one fighting against government misinformation and lack of social freedoms.
For all the big ideas, the thing that really sells this whole book to me is the solid characters. The feelings expressed and the stuff they are going through really resonate with me. A number of the characters over the span of the book deal with anxiety, trauma and chronic physical illness. The relationships formed are often oddly unbalanced, either due to finances, physical/emotional frailty, or even just charisma, and the problems those couples have feel very real to me.
I could go on, but it would be too much. The characters were believable and human, and representation of disability and mental illness was relatable. The discussion of migrants and ethnic minority was an element I valued, and I loved that with the use of Hawaiian language I could still pick up one word in three due to its similarity with te reo Māori (which I only have a very basic familiarity with). This was a really good book, and I should have read it last year.
Spanning roughly 200 hundred years this is a book about a world similar to our own but subtly different. It starts in the 1890s in an America which has some areas where it is legal to marry anyone you wish. It discusses 1990s in the same place only with a backdrop of the looming spectre of HIV. The final part is in the 2090s after waves of pandemics have changed the face of the First World into a dystopian vision of strict controls and segregation.
The book discusses health and frailty, chronic illness, being gay, the idea of inheritance and Legacy, life and treatment of migrants of ethnic minority, and love, feud, vulnerability, and .. people being people.
When I got the audiobook I had no idea it was such a long read (over 900 pages or 28+hours in the Audiobook) but the story wasn't really slow.. it just had a LOT in it. It seemed a poetic decision to have a recurring set of names and places. Partly this was to reinforce the continuity of lineage, inheritance and flow of time. Looking at things from different cultural perspectives over time highlights the changes caused by the passage of time, but also the similarities.
This book is artful and tells the stories within it through letters, memories, and stories told to others. It leans hard into the Hawaiian / Pacific Islands' oral tradition, and also highlights the place of those shared stories we tell each other, and how they cement families and communities. It also shows how that knowledge can be so fragile and be lost to time when ideas are not shared or if they cannot be passed on well.
This story starts as a piece of historical speculative fiction, but the latter parts of the book are set in a police state. Published in 2022, this book clearly channels a lot of the common ground we have experienced in the face of global pandemic. Freedom of information, and the radicalisation of rebels and conspiracy theorists against government control, are sympathetically highlighted by the use of main characters on both sides of the fence, one working for the government to limit the casualties of disease, and one fighting against government misinformation and lack of social freedoms.
For all the big ideas, the thing that really sells this whole book to me is the solid characters. The feelings expressed and the stuff they are going through really resonate with me. A number of the characters over the span of the book deal with anxiety, trauma and chronic physical illness. The relationships formed are often oddly unbalanced, either due to finances, physical/emotional frailty, or even just charisma, and the problems those couples have feel very real to me.
I could go on, but it would be too much. The characters were believable and human, and representation of disability and mental illness was relatable. The discussion of migrants and ethnic minority was an element I valued, and I loved that with the use of Hawaiian language I could still pick up one word in three due to its similarity with te reo Māori (which I only have a very basic familiarity with). This was a really good book, and I should have read it last year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Homophobia, Ableism, Cannibalism, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Violence, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Infertility, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Abandonment, Body horror, Bullying, and Rape
Minor: Alcohol
sabotheking's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book does not need to be as big as it is. I found it incredibly overly descriptive, info-dumping that did not drive the plot forward in any way shape or form, and it made it hard to figure out what was actually important to know. Author does have a way of writing that makes the story stick with you, and I did find the relationship between Grandfather and Grandaughter in book 3 really emotional and well fleshed out. Did NOT like the random commentary on black, asian and indigenous people that were downright offensive and served no purpose other than to piss off the reader (me). The 3 stories had no relation to each other. The theme of paradise felt really messily and hastily put in towards the conclusion of each story. There really was no conclusion to book 1 and 3, they were left very open ended and they felt as if the author did not know what to do with the story anymore and just hastily said "THE END BYE". Enjoyed the twist in the conclusion of Book 2 of the father, but the conclusion of the son was lacklustre at best. The conversations around the struggles of Kanaka Mauli in Hawai'i felt more like a criticism on them rather than the US and that felt off. However I am not Kanaka Mauli so I cannot speak for them, I would love to see and hear about opinions that they have of this book. There were so many valid conversations that this book raised but they were brought up and then led to nothing. It tried to do so much, while if it only focused on the characters it would be a far more enjoyable read. The characters had barely any development themselves, however I do think it was pretty interesting how all the main characters, while being in their 20's, all felt like I was reading about children. I had a lot of sympathy for the main characters, except for David jr. In Book 2. What kept me reading was the relationships. I thought they were interesting to read about, I would've loved more from that because there so much that could be talked about but it also felt very surface level which was disappointing. I wouldn't recommend reading this book, but I don't necessarily think I wasted my time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Body shaming, Gore, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault
pollyflorence's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It’s very difficult to put my thoughts into proper sentences, something coherent and something like a review, but I wanted to try and get across just how much I loved this book.
I know that there will be a lot of comparisons made to Yanagihara’s previous work but it fully deserves, I hope it gets, the chance, the space to stand on it’s own because it’s so beautifully written and heartbreakingly crafted to a point that the last 100 pages or so left me breathless. I know that it’s a book that will stay with me for a very long time— which is something that I often say after reading a good book, which I said after reading A Little Life and The People in the Trees— but in this case the stories that Yanagihara told in the book, the characters she created, the worlds she built are so compelling and beautifully vivid that I’m sure I’ll keep revisiting them in my mind and be very glad to do so.
That’s all that I can put into words at the moment— there are reviewers out there that explore the complex themes and connections that this book has— but all I can say is that I highly recommend giving this novel the chance it deserves.
Thank you to Picador Books for the review copy.
That’s all that I can put into words at the moment— there are reviewers out there that explore the complex themes and connections that this book has— but all I can say is that I highly recommend giving this novel the chance it deserves.
Thank you to Picador Books for the review copy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Death, Racial slurs, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
kkulhannie's review
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Outing, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, and War
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