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deedireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
See, now this is what I want every literary historical fiction novel to be for the rest of time. More books like this please!!
North Woods is super engaging and creative in structure, with the focus on the woods (and a house in those woods, complete with apple orchard) over 4+ centuries. We meet not only the people who lived in the house, but also the animals — and we get not only traditionally narrated chapters, but also songs, newspaper clippings, and more. It’s a tapestry, it’s a patchwork quilt, it’s the circle of life in miniature, and it is equally heartbreaking and delightful (and, at times, quite shocking).
Truly, I just loved this one so much. If you like books that span lifetimes, connect them in super-smart ways, cut to the quick of an excellent character in no time flat, weave in nature, and experiment with structure, run don’t walk!
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Mental illness
Moderate: Grief and Animal death
Minor: Slavery and War
batwoman411's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The story of the yellow house begins in the 1600s with a colonial couple escaping the stifling mores of pilgrim civilization. We span hundreds of years and different occupants of the house and woods around it. We witness the changing of the house as well as the landscape and ecology around it. Equal parts human drama and ghost story, the narrative transcends time and ultimately leaves it behind.
Complex, nuanced, clever. The North Woods is a journey that will change you.
Graphic: Murder
sarahweyand's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I will say that the style of North Woods inherently lends itself to shallower character development, so I didn't love that I felt disconnected from most of our characters. Combined with some of the chapters that were more character-driven, I found myself struggling to care. As is the case with any short-story style, some plots were more compelling than others, but I definitely liked more than I disliked.
Overall, I thought this was a cool take on historical fiction, and I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook. If you're not into historical fiction, this probably isn't the book for you, but I liked it!
Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, and War
Moderate: Animal death
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Murder, War, and Mental illness
mondovertigo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder and Sexual content
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: War
funktious's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Loved this. A bit like a commonplace book, assembled from various different sources (songs, pictures, case notes, magazine articles) then strung together by chapters focusing on different periods in American history, focused on a house in the New England woods. Love stories and tragedies, murder and sex, families both human and animal. Plenty of deaths but no one truly dies and they return to the story at unexpected moments and in strange ways. I loved how discarded objects and belongings kept showing up dozens of years later and how different generations were linked in completely unpredictable ways. And always the apples and the catamount and the trees. Really good autumn read.
I propose a new calendar: not one Autumn but twelve, a hundred. The autumn when the birches are yellow but still have their leaves; when the beeches are green but the birch leaves have fallen; when the oaks tint to the colour of ripe apricots and the beeches yellow; when the oaks turn a cigar brown and the beeches curl up into crispy copper rolls. And so on; I’ve missed a few. But to call it all just “autumn”!
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Murder
jesselynn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Thank you to John Murray Press/Hachette for the advanced reader copy.
Graphic: Homophobia, War, Ableism, Car accident, Death, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Murder, Gore, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, and Dementia
Minor: Alcohol, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Suicide, Gaslighting, Confinement, and Slavery
rachel_from_avid_bookshop's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, War, and Slavery