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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
This book—-I am still trying to process it. It took me a little bit to adjust to the writing style but once I did I found it to be so lyrical and beautiful. That said, if you are looking for a fast-paced read, this is not it. Set in colonial times, this book deals with heavy themes such as colonialism, religion, nature, and the female experience. I thought this book was beautifully written and very thought-provoking.
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
the great and terrible wilderness that fills the world of this book is so brilliantly and vividly written that it made my heart ache. lauren groff does not shy away from throwing the protagonist into harrowing situations. to survive, one must meet nature with persistence and ruthlessness. the girl forges on in spite of the harsh winter, an encroaching illness, and some horrific injuries, foraging for berries and mushrooms and swiftly killing a good number of small woodland creatures (one episode involving a mated duck was particularly heartbreaking to read). but in the face of brutal survivalism, the everyday goings-on of natural phenomena sometimes provided some respite, and even felt like a blessing. you marvel at your own smallness and think silly of humanity’s collective ego.
our heroine, a poor servant girl from colonial virginia, spends the book running (and from what? we gradually learn that dangers of the unknown are preferable to whatever she left behind) without so much as a plan other than to get away from where she came from. in her solitude she has no choice but to mind her immediate physical needs, and transcend those she cannot attend to. running then becomes a psychological, spiritual endeavor (good to note that this book was dedicated to lauren groff’s sister, an olympic triathlete). but the author’s real gambit is making us anticipate whether the heroine might be able to overcome these natural forces. and then carefully leading us to wonder if she needs to overcome these wilds at all.
(if you have the privilege of living somewhere with nice weather do yourself a favor and finish this book outside)
our heroine, a poor servant girl from colonial virginia, spends the book running (and from what? we gradually learn that dangers of the unknown are preferable to whatever she left behind) without so much as a plan other than to get away from where she came from. in her solitude she has no choice but to mind her immediate physical needs, and transcend those she cannot attend to. running then becomes a psychological, spiritual endeavor (good to note that this book was dedicated to lauren groff’s sister, an olympic triathlete). but the author’s real gambit is making us anticipate whether the heroine might be able to overcome these natural forces. and then carefully leading us to wonder if she needs to overcome these wilds at all.
(if you have the privilege of living somewhere with nice weather do yourself a favor and finish this book outside)
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Lauren Groff is a beautiful writer, but I did not like this story.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this book. The style of writing took a little getting used to, but in the end I enjoyed it. The fact that the character died is tragic, BUT the way her death was framed, so intrinsic and tied to nature, softened the blow. Certainly a poignant character study of a girl persevering and giving it her all. In the end, though, a little too heart-breaking for me to count it as a favorite.
Aside from a few shocking “revelations” told through flashbacks and a genuinely interesting and beautifully bleak last 20 pages, the rest of the story had me wondering “what is the point of this?”. I kept waiting for the story to develop and build into something more, but by the time I realized it’s was going to be “more of the same” cold/freezing/hungry/shits/cold/freezing/hungry/shits, I’d already invested too much time to NOT finish reading the entirety of the book. Easily the least enjoyable thing I’ve read in the last few years. It’s not poorly written, I just didn’t find it entirely interesting.