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torturedreadersdept's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Cursing, Drug use, Dysphoria, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Death of parent, Medical content, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
Moderate: Cultural appropriation
Minor: Cancer, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury
emelye's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief and Violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
katariinak's review
dark
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? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Grief
fkshg8465's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I had to restart this book several times because I had trouble getting into it initially. So glad I kept at it. It kept coming up on must read lists, and I’m so so glad it did. Everything about the book - the setting, the characters, the plot, the motivations, the themes - all of it was unexpected. Even though I disliked every single character, I really liked this book. That is a rarity for me.
My only wish was that it had been broken down into more chapters. Because there were only three chapters, it was hard for me to break up my reading in between daily activities.
This is a book I’d like to see taught in AP English and college classes across the US. Is a very well written allegory for the state of today’s world. Starts out slow, but comes to a screeching halt at the end because it speeds up so fast by then that it’s the only way out can end.
My only wish was that it had been broken down into more chapters. Because there were only three chapters, it was hard for me to break up my reading in between daily activities.
This is a book I’d like to see taught in AP English and college classes across the US. Is a very well written allegory for the state of today’s world. Starts out slow, but comes to a screeching halt at the end because it speeds up so fast by then that it’s the only way out can end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Murder, Car accident, Gun violence, Violence, Mass/school shootings, and Grief
annabunce's review
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Great writing, realistic responses from characters, engrossing!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Drug use
Minor: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
grubrednuf's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was good, great character introspection and development. Even if one of the characters I find most annoying ends up playing a larger role than first suggested. And the third act does pick up the pace significantly. But also maybe... This is just Macbeth and maybe a little Hamlet.
Rosie = Rosencrantz
Lady Jill = Lady Macbeth
Etc etc etc
Rosie = Rosencrantz
Lady Jill = Lady Macbeth
Etc etc etc
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Drug use, Blood, Bullying, Animal death, and Gaslighting
Minor: Murder, Colonisation, and Sexual content
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
What do you get when you cross the founder of a guerilla gardening group with a billionaire who has ambitious plans and secrets to conceal, and a left-wing journalist desperate to make a name for himself? Birnam Wood, a propulsive literary thriller, one with a surprisingly high body count. The book begins in a leisurely literary way. Some may a find it a little slow to get going - I did not and was invested from the get-go - but by the end, the tension is high, the action fast paced, and the thrillerish vibe very much in evidence. Catton knows how to structure and craft a story and this one has lots to recommend it. The characters are well-drawn and fully fleshed out, most a believable mixture of good and bad - except for the billionaire, who is as amoral, self-serving, egotistical and downright evil. They are also recognisable archetypes and as such allow for some subtle and not-so-subtle satirical skewering which is good fun. Living in the city part of the book is set in, and near to the inspiration for the fictional settings, I can attest to these being well-depicted. Its a special treat for me to read a book and know the setting so well. The plot has many layers, with lots of interesting smaller stories and conflicts incorporated into the main storyline. The themes touch on so many pertinent issues - technology and surveillance, food security, exploitation and degradation of the natural environment, infrastructure resilience, the inordinate power of large amounts of money and the ways that can be abused, the sale of land to foreign owners, capitalism, the divide between rich and poor, old and young, left and right and so much more. And the writing? Simply superb. There are some gorgeous lengthy complex sentences more familiar in nineteenth century novels. There are the Shakespearian allusions and connection, subtle rather than dominant. And then there’s Catton’s experience with screenplays shining through and giving many sections a cinematic feel.
This novel absorbed me from beginning to end and left me with plenty to think about. I very much enjoyed the time I spent with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Toxic relationship
jodar's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
As its title foreshadows, this engrossing novel brilliantly captures the convictions and flaws of its characters with the intensity of a Shakespearean tragedy. Set in New Zealand a few years before the arrival of COVID-19, the reader becomes immersed in the lives and thoughts of a group of left-wing conservationists on the one hand and of a right-wing, exploitative, capitalistic, narcissistic billionaire on the other.
The eco characters articulate altruistic motivations to their inner circle and into the public sphere, but in reality they have fragile motivations and commit all-too-human deceits and self-deceits. Catton portrays the discourse of their leftist debates astutely: highly intellectualised, intense and judgemental, they are aimed at challenging political ‘orthodoxy’ but ironically the debates can never establish ‘true belief’; there is always some political grievance somewhere not yet properly addressed, some newly fashionable socio-political theory not yet brought to bear. In contrast, the billionaire is not conflicted: he has unwavering, sociopathic aims. Although presenting himself as a philanthropist to the world, through technological and psychological means he cunningly exploits personal and institutional weaknesses for his own ends. As for the more minor characters of middle-aged ‘middle’ New Zealand, they are moderate in their worldviews, even though they are not without their own deceits and weaknesses. Their impact, though, is largely ineffectual in the face of the major political forces at play.
When the conservationist group and the billionaire become uneasy bedfellows, the pressure of conflict gradually builds and builds. The novel’s explosive ending shocks even as it seems inevitable.
A couple of minor criticisms on word choice:
The eco characters articulate altruistic motivations to their inner circle and into the public sphere, but in reality they have fragile motivations and commit all-too-human deceits and self-deceits. Catton portrays the discourse of their leftist debates astutely: highly intellectualised, intense and judgemental, they are aimed at challenging political ‘orthodoxy’ but ironically the debates can never establish ‘true belief’; there is always some political grievance somewhere not yet properly addressed, some newly fashionable socio-political theory not yet brought to bear. In contrast, the billionaire is not conflicted: he has unwavering, sociopathic aims. Although presenting himself as a philanthropist to the world, through technological and psychological means he cunningly exploits personal and institutional weaknesses for his own ends. As for the more minor characters of middle-aged ‘middle’ New Zealand, they are moderate in their worldviews, even though they are not without their own deceits and weaknesses. Their impact, though, is largely ineffectual in the face of the major political forces at play.
When the conservationist group and the billionaire become uneasy bedfellows, the pressure of conflict gradually builds and builds. The novel’s explosive ending shocks even as it seems inevitable.
A couple of minor criticisms on word choice:
- p. 281 ‘enormity of her love for him’ from context does not mean her love was extremely atrocious, despite the misuse of ‘enormity’.
- ‘on either side’ is used in several places when the sense of ‘on each side’ or ‘on both sides’ is probably intended rather than the literal meaning of ‘on one side or the other’.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Gun violence
Minor: Drug use
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