Reviews

The Comet Seekers by Helen Sedgwick

mrs_bonaventure's review against another edition

5.0

Just beautiful. Sad and nostalgic and detailed and ethereal. Lovely warm sense of family through the ages.

carladelgado's review

2023 Review: I wanted to reread this because I remember loving it so much and being blown away. I finished the book earlier today and it was just okay. It was great, but I didn't love it as much as I did before. It's really interesting how people (me) grow and change over time. I'd rate this 3.5 stars now.

2020 Review: Such an amazing book! Immediately became one of my favorites, not just for this year but of all time. The imagery was so beautiful and the way all the stories were interconnected is just truly brilliant. I can't say any more because it may potentially spoil important bits but I love the parallelisms in the stories. So spectacular.

mcpieters's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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 honestly feel so conflicted with this book. I enjoyed the story a lot and the themes of generations lost and grief and exploration. However, one of the main romantic relationships in the books is incestuous and I don’t think I ever really got over that… I feel like the author painted it in a positive light which felt a bit icky. I wish they had chosen to have a forbidden love affair in some other way than cousins but oh well! Otherwise the book was really good I thought! Very fun to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Incest

mscthom's review

Soft DNF; had to return to library

noellepb's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-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? No

4.0

Dimensional and enthralling, Sedgwick pulls readers through a journey of the humanness of family and of lovers. Each character’s life offers perspective on the struggle of living and the joys of connection. Though often troubling, their conflicts remind me that love is never simple and that we are all connected more than we can know. 

guylou's review

3.0

lanagoossen's review against another edition

lighthearted

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

2.5

sadiebobadie's review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-paced

3.5

clare_tan_wenhui's review against another edition

3.0

The author uses the analogy of comets' orbits and destruction, to parallel what the characters go through, their entrapment in being haunted (both figuratively and literally) and their final decision to "let go". Interesting this symbolism of comets matches the Biblical concept of humans being made from the soil, and the famous phrase of "ashes to ashes, dust to dust". Of the two main converging plots, I found that of Francois and his mother Severine to be more likable than the tortured relationship of Roisin's and Liam's. Roisin is a very very unlikable character in my opinion.

lizaroo71's review

3.0

The premise of the story orbits around various comets. We have two characters that meet at the beginning of the book whose lives come closer and closer (mimicking how a star explodes into a black hole?).

The story takes us to various corners of the world and is interesting, but I found myself growing a bit uninterested in the middle section. The chapters are written in short chunks, so I forged through and did find the end result pleasing.

I like the incorporation of astronomy and an element of the supernatural.