Reviews with content warning for Rape - Cloud Cuckoo Land

I was hesitant to pick this book up after DNFing All the Light We Cannot See in 2020. But, it was my Book Club's pick and the premise seemed right up my alley so I gave it a chance. I'm glad I did! I enjoyed this book. It was the perfect blend of storytelling and intrigue with a little dash of a sci-fi element thrown in there. I was glued to this book and stayed up way too late several nights in a row to finish it as quickly as possible.

Reading other reviews, I am seeing that many criticisms about the book center on the lengthy descriptions. This is something that bothers me as well, but I honestly did not notice it in this book. The descriptions were definitely more than was needed to simply set the scene, but it didn't overwhelm or irritate me. Each of the characters have such a connection to where they are that I felt we were just getting an idea of their feelings for their city, the nature, their space.

I also enjoyed the premise. I loved the weaving in of the fictional Cloud Cuckoo Land story and seeing more and more links between it and the characters. I loved the juxtaposition of the different time periods, including the two separate wars hundreds of years apart. It was a unique read for sure.

My criticisms lie in the amount of characters and the ending. There were so many characters that, despite the novel being over 600 pages, you spent only a short amount of time with each character. It was hard to truly feel connected to them and sometimes I would just be getting into a portion of the novel and boom end of chapter. The novel was also a slow burn, which is fine, but when the ending came, it came quickly. I was really craving more information and more of a resolution for one of the characters at the end (view spoiler). The book focused on climate change a bit and I was glad to see there was an accurate focus on it, especially after reading Migrations which felt very unrealistic.

Overall, highly recommend this book! May even be worth a shot if you are not usually a fan of the author.

Content Warnings

jacstomski's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

Trying to do too many things, this just didn’t do it for me.

Content Warnings

kkm0112's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This seems like it would be a sense read (clocking in close to 700 pages) but it truly flies. Three POVs, all revolving around characters discovering and reading an Ancient Greek story: one POV in 15th century Constantinople at the start of the Ottoman Empire; one in current day, focusing on two characters whose paths end up intersecting during a violent attack on a public library; and one in the future, on a ship on its way to a new planet. I loved all three timelines and was only frustrated that I had to wait to see what would happen to characters I had fallen in love with - even though many of them have grave flaws.

Content Warnings

jen_again's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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