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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I wouldn’t want to regularly read books written in this style, but it was a nice change of pace. Not really horror or thriller. Lots of piss and shit. Didn’t love the ending, but it was appropriate for the story.
This book is so entirely difficult to talk about because it is so many things!
I think it's a crime to claim this book is a novel because it honestly is more like poetry. This is such a lyrical and descriptive view of survival and fear and struggle.
This isn't a book for the squeamish - we're getting vivid descriptions of eating bugs, going to the bathroom in the woods, and the pain and appearance of wounds.
But, there's also so much beauty and reflection. Beauty in nature and the world around us, reflection on empathy, class, and the cruelty of man.
This book was depressing af, it really was, but it was also glorious and eye-opening to how much of the natural world we've forgotten to see and appreciate.
This book is art and I think it's a beautiful piece.
I think it's a crime to claim this book is a novel because it honestly is more like poetry. This is such a lyrical and descriptive view of survival and fear and struggle.
This isn't a book for the squeamish - we're getting vivid descriptions of eating bugs, going to the bathroom in the woods, and the pain and appearance of wounds.
But, there's also so much beauty and reflection. Beauty in nature and the world around us, reflection on empathy, class, and the cruelty of man.
This book was depressing af, it really was, but it was also glorious and eye-opening to how much of the natural world we've forgotten to see and appreciate.
This book is art and I think it's a beautiful piece.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I don’t know how I finished this book. It was so bad. There’s no interactions between people. The main character doesn’t even have a name and she just wanders around and you read about it. The amount of times it talked about her piss and shit is ridiculous. Don’t pick it up. Save yourself the time.
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was beautifully written and the story was compelling. I didn’t read the blurb well so was a little confused about when and where we were, but once I figured it out, I was hooked. It felt almost like a grown up Dear America book.
Though the author writes with a prose-like quality, the story was never convoluted, and she did a great job of clarifying things for the reader and answering questions as they arose. There was very little plot, but we had just enough to keep us interested.
I also liked that she used the descriptions of nature to move the story along rather than pausing in time to describe the setting. I loved the messaging at the end and appreciate the author’s candor.
Though the author writes with a prose-like quality, the story was never convoluted, and she did a great job of clarifying things for the reader and answering questions as they arose. There was very little plot, but we had just enough to keep us interested.
I also liked that she used the descriptions of nature to move the story along rather than pausing in time to describe the setting. I loved the messaging at the end and appreciate the author’s candor.
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Vaster Wilds firmly puts us in our place. We populate the earth, and occupy ourselves in all manner of ways, but our time is nothing when compared to the power of nature. This was my first experience of Groff’s writing, and it certainly got its claws in early on.
Our focus is a young serving girl who is running away from her settlement. We don’t know why, and she seems to have no end goal other than to find passage to safety, but we follow her through her experience as she relies on her wits and the natural world to provide for her.
As she journeys through the inhospitable terrain we see the passing seasons and the impact this has on her experience. We follow her through all manner of events, where she often survives more by luck than skill. Groff spares us no detail in the account of our protagonist’s experience and I found myself in awe of her ingenuity and resilience while also feeling completely unsuited to such a lifestyle.
Over the course of her journey we are given her background. Taken in by a wealthy woman to become a sort of pet - even given the name of her mistress’s beloved monkey - and then used as nursemaid for the disabled child it is evident that she is a victim of circumstance. There’s the vivid memories of the journey to the new world and the joy she found briefly during the journey, and then we learn of the illness that settles on those around her. It seems she killed the second husband of her mistress after he tried to take advantage of her, but I could not tell what had actually happened.
There was a part of me that felt she was forced to endure more than anyone in her position would have been able to survive. What struck me throughout was the depiction of the natural world and its unflinching harshness, yet also its beauty. The closing moments were quite incredible. Yet I can’t help but wonder what the point of this was.
Our focus is a young serving girl who is running away from her settlement. We don’t know why, and she seems to have no end goal other than to find passage to safety, but we follow her through her experience as she relies on her wits and the natural world to provide for her.
As she journeys through the inhospitable terrain we see the passing seasons and the impact this has on her experience. We follow her through all manner of events, where she often survives more by luck than skill. Groff spares us no detail in the account of our protagonist’s experience and I found myself in awe of her ingenuity and resilience while also feeling completely unsuited to such a lifestyle.
Over the course of her journey we are given her background. Taken in by a wealthy woman to become a sort of pet - even given the name of her mistress’s beloved monkey - and then used as nursemaid for the disabled child it is evident that she is a victim of circumstance. There’s the vivid memories of the journey to the new world and the joy she found briefly during the journey, and then we learn of the illness that settles on those around her. It seems she killed the second husband of her mistress after he tried to take advantage of her, but I could not tell what had actually happened.
There was a part of me that felt she was forced to endure more than anyone in her position would have been able to survive. What struck me throughout was the depiction of the natural world and its unflinching harshness, yet also its beauty. The closing moments were quite incredible. Yet I can’t help but wonder what the point of this was.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A