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aelunny's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
If I'm honest, I would've liked this book a lot more of I read it before I read Braiding Sweetgrass. I like the unique format of the book, and I understand it's charge, but I feel like my view on nature was already connected to the slow and deep way this book portrays it, and therefore I don't know if it hit as much as it did for all of the other people who are singing it's praises. Maybe I'm being harsh because it was really well written, but this is my review so it stands as is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Death
Moderate: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault and Miscarriage
julziez's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Violence, Death, Dementia, Grief, and Colonisation
middumullu's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I read a paper copy. It was honestly a slow start, but built up really well. The book is divided into a few different sections so I guess that's how I'll break this up. I don't remember how many there were so I can't get super specific but the beginning/middle/end had very different vibes.
Beginning - sets up each of the different characters' backstories and personalities. It's a pretty diverse cast of characters, and each of their worlds at this point feels distinct and individual and real. It was slow and calm, but I wasn't sure what direction the story was going to go because many of these parts felt like they had closure. The first section ends with an absolute BANGER.
Middle - The second section starts with an absolute BANGER as well. The way the story continued over from each section was done really well. The stories started to merge here and it was interesting to see the ways that they came together, and to try to guess where and when each of the characters and story lines would meet. The middle parts of the book pick up the pace, too. You begin to feel the urgency that characters are feeling, their sense of purpose and connection to something greater. It's inspiring and makes you want to go out and do something to help the world.
End - This part slows down too. For me it was sad to read, about the state of the environment, the decline, where all of these characters find themselves in life. It felt a bit like crashing back to reality after some of the fantasy of the middle section. I honestly can't remember how it ended but I remember feeling like there was a lot to consider. Our relationship to the Earth, our relationship to each other, the extent of our responsibility for different parts of our life.
I really enjoyed all of the characters and their dynamics together. I've seen some people complaining about Neelay feeling irrelevant to the plot but I liked his parts. I thought they added a different view of the world that was much needed. Patty of course was my favorite. Icon. Overall a good and thought provoking read, but on the longer and slower side.
Beginning - sets up each of the different characters' backstories and personalities. It's a pretty diverse cast of characters, and each of their worlds at this point feels distinct and individual and real. It was slow and calm, but I wasn't sure what direction the story was going to go because many of these parts felt like they had closure. The first section ends with an absolute BANGER.
Middle - The second section starts with an absolute BANGER as well. The way the story continued over from each section was done really well. The stories started to merge here and it was interesting to see the ways that they came together, and to try to guess where and when each of the characters and story lines would meet. The middle parts of the book pick up the pace, too. You begin to feel the urgency that characters are feeling, their sense of purpose and connection to something greater. It's inspiring and makes you want to go out and do something to help the world.
End - This part slows down too. For me it was sad to read, about the state of the environment, the decline, where all of these characters find themselves in life. It felt a bit like crashing back to reality after some of the fantasy of the middle section. I honestly can't remember how it ended but I remember feeling like there was a lot to consider. Our relationship to the Earth, our relationship to each other, the extent of our responsibility for different parts of our life.
I really enjoyed all of the characters and their dynamics together. I've seen some people complaining about Neelay feeling irrelevant to the plot but I liked his parts. I thought they added a different view of the world that was much needed. Patty of course was my favorite. Icon. Overall a good and thought provoking read, but on the longer and slower side.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Bullying, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Infidelity
Sorry I cannot remember it all clearly because I finished this a while ago. There was also a protest scene where characters are pepper sprayed in sensitive areas and threatened by the police but I don't know exactly how to tag that. Guerrilla environmentalist action is a major plot point within the middle of the book.anouks_books's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
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
5.0
I already look forward to rereading this book in order to understand it better and take notes of all the little, beautiful passages.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Police brutality, and Torture
Minor: Alcohol, Infidelity, Sexual content, Drug use, and War
amelianotthepilot's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
this book is sooo longgg
talking about a bunch of different people all connected eventually through their love of trees
talking about a bunch of different people all connected eventually through their love of trees
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Suicide attempt, Grief, Police brutality, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Medical content
lectora21's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Death, Dementia, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Infertility
waybeyondblue's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Police brutality
Minor: Suicide attempt
annemaries_shelves's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
3.0
I started this book in March 2020 and it took me almost 2 full years to read.
There's two branches (heh) that my experience reading The Overstory could've gone down:
The first is a 5 star experience full of memorable characters, strong statements about nature, trees, environmentalism, and how humans are destroying the planet with our greed and need for more. With gorgeous writing and a clear love of trees woven throughout.
The other is my actual experience.
The second was a grandiose story that could've been told in 400-450 pages, where the last 150-200 pages were the most interesting of the whole novel (which are the parts I read in 2022).
Each section is represented by a part of the tree, and the Roots section is essentially 10 intros of 10 characters. The constant starting and re-starting made for a difficult entry into the novel as each character existed completely separately from the rest and only in subsequent sections were some of them connecting together.
With respect to the characters - they were often times well realized and fleshed out and yet other times they fell flat. The characters who received more page time in subsequent sections often felt more developed and less stereotypical. Some of the characters didn't really have an impact on the story because they so rarely interacted with anyone else in the novel. The majority of characters were also presumed white - only 2 (from my 2020 recollection) were people of colour - a Chinese-American woman (who laterends up with a facial disfigurement ) and Indian-American man (also a wheelchair user). I think a story like this would've benefited from a greater diversity of characters, which would more accurately reflect both our world and the environmental activism space. There was also a notable lack of Indigenous characters and world views. Considering there was only one Indigenous character (or presumed Indigenous) who appears in some of the last scenes to help out Nicholas, and who doesn't have a name and 'speaks to the trees in a very old language' - it might've been a good thing that Powers didn't attempt to write characters I sense he would've struggled with characterizing without stereotyping.
However, the nature writing was gorgeous and the love of trees obvious - I loved learning details about various trees and sharing the experiences of the characters. Nicholas and Olivia's experiences living in Mimas (a mature redwood tree) were some of my favourite scenes in the book.
I think there were a lot of strong messages in here about the power of trees and the importance of environmental activism and protecting our natural resources for their own sakes. However, the novel felt a little too bloated due to all the characters attempting to generate these messages.
And this final point is more due to marketing... I was expecting more speculative fiction elements of the trees literally talking to the characters and more change happening to save the trees. However, this was a novel incredibly grounded in reality and only hints of some characters 'hearing' what the trees were saying - which could be easily explained as a normal psychological phenomenon rather than the speculative element I was expecting. This is very much a work of literary fiction and I think some of the marketing did not emphasize that piece enough.
Overall, I'm glad I finally read it - I think the nature writing was great, and Powers knows how to tell a story. But his stories don't need to be this long with this many characters.
Finishing it did keep me distracted during a very stressful weekend and for that I'll have fondness for it.
There's two branches (heh) that my experience reading The Overstory could've gone down:
The first is a 5 star experience full of memorable characters, strong statements about nature, trees, environmentalism, and how humans are destroying the planet with our greed and need for more. With gorgeous writing and a clear love of trees woven throughout.
The other is my actual experience.
The second was a grandiose story that could've been told in 400-450 pages, where the last 150-200 pages were the most interesting of the whole novel (which are the parts I read in 2022).
Each section is represented by a part of the tree, and the Roots section is essentially 10 intros of 10 characters. The constant starting and re-starting made for a difficult entry into the novel as each character existed completely separately from the rest and only in subsequent sections were some of them connecting together.
With respect to the characters - they were often times well realized and fleshed out and yet other times they fell flat. The characters who received more page time in subsequent sections often felt more developed and less stereotypical. Some of the characters didn't really have an impact on the story because they so rarely interacted with anyone else in the novel. The majority of characters were also presumed white - only 2 (from my 2020 recollection) were people of colour - a Chinese-American woman (who later
However, the nature writing was gorgeous and the love of trees obvious - I loved learning details about various trees and sharing the experiences of the characters. Nicholas and Olivia's experiences living in Mimas (a mature redwood tree) were some of my favourite scenes in the book.
I think there were a lot of strong messages in here about the power of trees and the importance of environmental activism and protecting our natural resources for their own sakes. However, the novel felt a little too bloated due to all the characters attempting to generate these messages.
And this final point is more due to marketing... I was expecting more speculative fiction elements of the trees literally talking to the characters and more change happening to save the trees. However, this was a novel incredibly grounded in reality and only hints of some characters 'hearing' what the trees were saying - which could be easily explained as a normal psychological phenomenon rather than the speculative element I was expecting. This is very much a work of literary fiction and I think some of the marketing did not emphasize that piece enough.
Overall, I'm glad I finally read it - I think the nature writing was great, and Powers knows how to tell a story. But his stories don't need to be this long with this many characters.
Finishing it did keep me distracted during a very stressful weekend and for that I'll have fondness for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood
indrabindra's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I'm not sure what I was expecting but this turned out differently. Poetic prose with clearly well researched facts dispersed throughout. I found character dialogue rather clunky, but the plot was captivating. Heavy handed with the mellowdrama to my taste. I don't think this is the "environmental fable" everyone says it is. It's a good story about trees and people, but it is not all-encompassing. Did not appreciate the endings for most of the characters, but I respect that ending a book is tricky.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Police brutality
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexism and Cancer
prettyfunctional's review
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Violence, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Grief, Death of parent, Confinement, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Body horror
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Car accident and Sexual content