Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - The Overstory

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The Overstory by Richard Powers

22 reviews

mavemarie's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

I had hoped to be moved by this book as a whole, but only found that magic in (albeit many) disjointed parts. This book is written for a timeline that is not for humans, and I don't think that's a fault, but ultimately left me floating and wanting for something I didn't receive. There is magic here. True and moving content, but not on the same level as Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass.

I didn't feel like any of the eight(??) storylines ended in a remotely satisfying way, but that they could have and should have.

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nhelregel's review

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Such a wide, sweeping novel about people, trees, and the interactions between the two. I've been waiting on the e-audiobook to be available through libraries for *years* and it did not disappoint. Super long, but it never dragged and each of the characters fit into the narrative well. I'll definitely be ruminating on it for a while. Overall: very interesting, thought-provoking, and definitely sad (but also somewhat hopeful).

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elliv's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring slow-paced

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

3.0

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auntted's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

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emmonsannae's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

This is one of those books that is objectively excellent but just didn’t work for me. I thought the craftsmanship of the novel was superb, and I really enjoyed R.W.’s style. I like that the book forces you to ask a lot of questions about its purpose and the way that purpose is accomplished. But when I finished the book, I realized that I didn’t especially enjoy reading it. I think there were some sub-themes that didn’t agree with me, which made it hard to buy in by the ending (which requires a lot from its readers).

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delaneybarry's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The first part of The Overstory is wonderful, the second part—which is more than a couple hundred pages—drags quite a bit, but, the third part does bring everything together nicely. Well written and reflective, but the story does seem to move at the pace of trees.

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