Reviews

Garden of Earthly Bodies by Sally Oliver

arnastorm's review

slow-paced

3.0

peyt149's review

challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

slippybird's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

idk, the writing of this book was actually very good but it fell under the umbrella of over-descriptive to me. there were a lot of parts that i felt could have been left out with no consequence to the plot or the character arcs. the non-linear narrative was maintained well, Marianne’s time and growth at the clinic was sort of mirrored by how the narrative of the past was continuing but to be honest i felt the most bored at these parts. it seemed like it was supposed to be a story about grief but it struck me as being more of almost a character study. also i didn’t really understand the significance of the clinic and staff being the “villains” of the story. in this case wouldn’t it sort of be more powerful to have a character’s self-sabotage as the leading conflict? last thing i didn’t really understand what the ending meant so i might have to let it marinate for a day and then reconsider how i feel about it. not even going to touch on the characters here because i felt most of them were lost to the story other than main characters Marianne and Marie, and , you’re joking. i sort of understand the naming significance like one can’t exist without the other but i seriously thought this book was going to pull a persona 5 royal bait and switch on me (niche reference omg) 

kyillme's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

bittie_bee's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

julesbarthe10's review

The over descriptive wording, the MC narrative, and just the over all feel of the read made it hard to stick with despite the interesting mystery and depth to it.

leahbee26's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

The premise of this book is what made me read it. While some readers did not enjoy the flip between past & present, I found it enjoyable as it kept the main characters story constantly unfolding. However I do feel the present timeline to be a bit rushed & her time at the research facility could have been dragged out a bit more. Everything comes together in the last chapter but still somehow falls short of what the book could have been. Overall I enjoyed the novel & will look forward to whatever Sally Oliver comes up with in the future. She has a very unique & descriptive writing style which i thoroughly enjoyed. 

bloomandgloomco's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

3.0

mmcdaniel19's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

3.0

annamgane's review

tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Garden of earthly bodies seems very interesting on the surface. Ideas of psychology, loss and grief pieced with the horror adjacent premise drew me in. However the format of switching between the two periods in main characters life often hindered the flow and unraveling of the story. I spent most of this book trying to figure out what the personality of the main character was. There are a few odd moments for me, like when homeless people are mentioned, that feel out of place. It seems like the novel ultimately takes an anti research psychology stance while name dropping lacan and Freud which is disappointing.

The highlights of this book for me was the overall idea of having roots in our backs. The author articulated well the experience of this illness, and made an effort to tie in the physical health with the mental. Sally Oliver is a good writer, clearly demonstrating a lot of skill but it felt like the story beats and characters needed fine tuning.