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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
I wish the last fifth of the book was as detailed as the first half... everything ended so fast and so much was rushed through. I love the parallel with MacBeth, though. Overall, it was an "okay" book. I loved the end, but it was so skeletal!!!
An Audible book. I know nothing about NZ politics and don’t remember enough of Macbeth to get the references. It was too long too much preaching the characters were stereotypical despite what everyone says. The ending was sloppy and the whole thing was too parochial for me to care about anyone. The Luminaries was a far superior book
adventurous
dark
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
adventurous
dark
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:
Complicated
A fun read that eventually overstretched itself in plot and writing.
conceptually, the novel was a big hit for me, hindered a little in the first half by how insufferable most of the characters (intentionally) were -- i found myself thinking longingly of THE LUMINARIES, in which all the characters were also flawed and frustrating but in a way that made them eminently likable -- but the second half won me around to everything that catton was building up in the first half.
Spoiler
the ending was wonderfully brutal but it felt perhaps a little cinematic/deliberately maudlin?
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
This book was not for me. So much exposition even in the last third of the book; characters that were all in their heads, a bit too one-dimensional, self-righteous; so many words. It felt sometimes like reading a thesaurus. And then there was the ending. Seemed a bit dramatic for the circumstances, but then again, I've never been in a situation like this, so I guess I can't say what I'd have done. It's not that the book was bad, but it wasn't my cup of tea.
(June 2025)
(June 2025)
An excellent novel with an insight into eco-sabotage. It starts fairly slowly, but with elements of a psychological thriller - it's hard to know who is telling the truth and what their motives are. As the book goes on it gets more and more compelling and moves faster and faster.