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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
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:
Complicated
There's obvious skill in the prose of the work, which was genuinely touching and beautifully captured the atmosphere of a scene or a moment even when the real description was sparse. The main character is well-rounded, and her ponderings on higher things meshed well with her rather mundane story through the snow and the wild.
But my god, this book is like being drubbed over the head repeatedly. It gives you little to no hope or joy to grasp onto, to drive you forward. I've read plenty of dark books and enjoyed them well enough, and I understand the desire to portray the danger and the drudgery, but the book ended up being a thorough slog to get through, despite not being all that long.
But my god, this book is like being drubbed over the head repeatedly. It gives you little to no hope or joy to grasp onto, to drive you forward. I've read plenty of dark books and enjoyed them well enough, and I understand the desire to portray the danger and the drudgery, but the book ended up being a thorough slog to get through, despite not being all that long.
I liked this book so much more than I thought I would. Groff's Vaster Wilds is a compelling page-turner about survival, femininity, colonization, and our relationship with God and nature.
Groff's historical writing is so different from her contemporary fiction. There's a strange lyricism in her words, a passive construction to the sentences. The style might turn off some readers, but if you love exploring writing and what it can do, this might be a good one to check out for that alone.
A small example: "But the way the bay was so gently touched with light made her courage return to her." It's a tricky sentence! One without the subject--or you could say here that the subject (the true doer of the action) is God--or the absence of God. (Or I might argue this in a literary essay if, in the unlikely event, I were to ever write one of those again.)
Can we also talk about the dreams? They are used to heighten the tension and other-worldliness of this imagined historical place. For that writing trespass alone, I really loved the book. Plus, I'm just a total sucker for a journey story. And a journey of a young girl in the wilderness of pre-Colonial America? Yes, please.
A small example: "But the way the bay was so gently touched with light made her courage return to her." It's a tricky sentence! One without the subject--or you could say here that the subject (the true doer of the action) is God--or the absence of God. (Or I might argue this in a literary essay if, in the unlikely event, I were to ever write one of those again.)
Can we also talk about the dreams? They are used to heighten the tension and other-worldliness of this imagined historical place. For that writing trespass alone, I really loved the book. Plus, I'm just a total sucker for a journey story. And a journey of a young girl in the wilderness of pre-Colonial America? Yes, please.
This was just okay for me. The author reeeeeally like to talk about the protagonist's bowel movements. i think they got a mention in almost every chapter.
This is like [b:Follow the River|138872|Follow the River|James Alexander Thom|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387651947l/138872._SY75_.jpg|497394] but without the vilification of indigenous Americans and updated to include what it's like to be an actual woman surviving in the wilds as well as musings on colonialism, patriarchy, and God.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A real page turner. I really wanted her to make it.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me 2 weeks to read the first 100 pages of this book and 3 hours to finish the last 150 pages, which pretty much sums up my feelings on it. Someone I know described this as a "female version of Hatchet," and I see why she thinks so. The writing reads like a lullaby, even though the content is harrowing at times. Groff illustrates the wilderness settings and the flashbacks to civility both in incredible detail. The girl, our main character, is someone I spent the whole book figuring out and who I could have spent more time with. My favorite part was probably in the fever section of the book, namely chapters 15-17, where there are interesting musings as the girl starts to ponder dominion, what's in a name, what is god, and a female's place in the world. Well done overall, though I wish the wrap up at the end had been stretched a little more.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes