Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Overstory by Richard Powers

71 reviews

alib23's review

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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madison_isreading's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense 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? Yes

3.0

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h_gordon's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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hammock_napper's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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aprica's review

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
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balfies's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

A sweeping ecology of characters explore their relationships to and defense of trees - through academia, through science, through technology, through art, through eco-terrorism, through time. An astonishing, beautiful novel, genuinely a bit life changing (although I found the denouement a bit weaker than the rest).
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patchwork_sif's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A must read for anyone who’s concerned about how we treat the natural world, which should be everyone. Possibly the most effecting book I’ve read in my life. The characters are utterly engrossing, and Powers’ poetic descriptions of the world of trees leaves you enraptured. It’s a book that, more than any other work of fiction I’ve encountered, makes the reader truly stop and reevaluate their place in the world. They should’ve given it two Pulitzers. 
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loveisabird's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

beautifully written and absolutely makes me want to cry about trees and the planet a lot. and makes me wish i was brave enough to dedicate my life to saving them. 

but, i don’t really love where the all the characters ended up by the conclusion. not saying they all should have gotten unambiguously happy endings, but some more narratively satisfying endings for more of them would have been nice. not really sure what i’m supposed to take away from all of these specific peoples’ struggles, i guess!
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perseusj4ckson's review

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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leahgustafson's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

 
This is a gorgeous portrayal of the wonder, beauty, and power of trees (and nature). The writing is definitely worthy of a Pulitzer! 
• 
I really enjoyed reading the first section, “Roots.” This reads like a collection of short stories where we briefly meet each of the characters, learn about their families, and  discover a little bit about how their lives are shaped by and connected to trees/nature. 
• 
The structural shift in this book (after the first section) was a very interesting choice. The middle and ending sections almost feel like a completely different book in the way they are written. The characters become secondary to the true main characters, the trees. However, I believe this is in line with Power’s purpose for writing this book. I like how Powers teaches us more about trees and the natural world through fictional stories and language devices. It didn’t feel like I was reading a text book about trees, but I definitely learned something during this reading experience! While I enjoyed how all the stories were woven together (similarly to the roots, branches, and leaves of trees), the middle felt a little long winded for me at times. 
• 
This book highlights the magic of trees/nature and ultimately asks us to reflect on our own relationship with the natural world. We can’t help but ask what we are doing to protect and preserve a natural world that has been around for centuries before us and will be around long after humans are gone. 
• 
Check out what I'm reading next on Instagram @LeahsLitReview!
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