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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I didn't really like Room and I'm not sure about this either. The first half could have been edited heavily as it dragged and I don't think achieved anything by it. In fact I think the whole book could be pared right back and would make a much better short story.
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I couldn't do it. This audiobook is one of the slowest historical fiction audios I've ever listened to, and I've listened to hundreds. I even tried speeding up the narration and then I tried skipping forward to see if anything happens. But the nurse is freaking sitting by the side of a young girl for most of the book and that is not an interesting thing to listen to! I'm giving up.
Overall a pretty good read, although my interest flagged a bit towards the end.
I think this book works well as dark, atmospheric historical fiction. Emma Donoghue has done an amazing job of conjuring up a tiny 18th century Irish village, seeped in superstition and still suffering the trauma of the recently ended potato famine. Donoghue creates powerful dramatic tension making use of the way a modern reader will understand Anna’s fasting, compared to the characters’ limited insight based on the science of the time. It also raises questions about faith and religious institutions which are just as relent to the modern world.
It works a bit less well as a mystery. It moves slowly and the big secrets are not that hard to guess. Towards the end I felt I already knew what was going to happen and I got a bit bored waiting for it to play out.
So if you are looking for an exciting mystery full of twists and turns, this is probably not the book for you. But I would definitely recommend this to lovers of historical fiction and general fiction.
I think this book works well as dark, atmospheric historical fiction. Emma Donoghue has done an amazing job of conjuring up a tiny 18th century Irish village, seeped in superstition and still suffering the trauma of the recently ended potato famine. Donoghue creates powerful dramatic tension making use of the way a modern reader will understand Anna’s fasting, compared to the characters’ limited insight based on the science of the time. It also raises questions about faith and religious institutions which are just as relent to the modern world.
It works a bit less well as a mystery. It moves slowly and the big secrets are not that hard to guess. Towards the end I felt I already knew what was going to happen and I got a bit bored waiting for it to play out.
So if you are looking for an exciting mystery full of twists and turns, this is probably not the book for you. But I would definitely recommend this to lovers of historical fiction and general fiction.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Incest
The more I read, the more my expectations on this book grew.
I was expecting a horror story where you don't see the horror until when you're close to the end, and it would hit me so hard I wouldn't recover.
Instead, the horror is all there since the start, laid down in plain sight, and it's in the plot but also in all those morbid images that Catholicism is still very much able to generate.
I was expecting a horror story where you don't see the horror until when you're close to the end, and it would hit me so hard I wouldn't recover.
Instead, the horror is all there since the start, laid down in plain sight, and it's in the plot but also in all those morbid images that Catholicism is still very much able to generate.
First off, "The Wonder" isn't as great as "Room," but there's no way it could be, really. It's similarly page-turning, however, even though the unlikely subject matter is a 19th-century Irish child who has been fasting for months yet appears to have suffered no ill effects. Interestingly, this was a real trend at the time, with "Fasting Girls" who got fifteen minutes of fame as supposed miracles or saints, none of whom, of course, were truly going without nourishment. The English nurse who arrives in central Ireland, full of prejudices against the people and religion, as well as serious ideas about the proper way to care for patients, based on her training with Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War, is our guide through the isolated village and into the tiny cottage where the fasting girl in question lives. She's a great character, and I enjoyed the development of her relationship with the child, whom she is meant to watch closely to discover whether she is in fact eating. I saw most of the book's twists coming, and felt that the ending, as well as the character of a reporter from the Irish Times, was weak. But Donoghue is a tremendous writer and it's a joy to read her work.
Wow, I'm not sure how it happened but the protagonist I hated for the first two-thirds of the novel won me over in the end! I put this book into my favorite Goodreads shelf: Ends with a Great Twist. It's a really interesting exploration of blind religious devotion, the meaning of family, and the mysterious ways in which God works--even for those who don't believe in Him.
The setting of this book (19th century rural Ireland) was enough to sell me, but add in medical mystery and I'm scrambling to get started. It was a slow moving plot, but by halfway through I constantly found myself reaching for the book to find out what happens next. I loved the frequent references to Florence Nightingale and learning how the field of nursing has evolved (there are still similarities, unfortunately).
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book wrecked me.
It's frustratingly well done and the audio book was very engaging.
The main concerns / complaints that I could come up with relate to the accuracy and sort of romanticization of starving for months.It is implied that a child would be semi-fine living on a mouthful or two of food for four months and that she wouldnt promptly die after a matter of days with only a sip of water a day. Anna definitely would have been bedridden a lot faster and not be conscious more than a few hours at once.
The writing flows well and it felt very natural and well paced even though it takes place over only a few weeks. Lib's growth is consistent and easy to follow, since she clearly states her changing motives throughout the short timeline. But it's horrifying to me that most of the characters can be so avoidanteven to the point of helping a child die day after day.
It's definitely a highly triggering book but it handles the sensitive parts well in that it captures the devastation felt by a caregiver instructed not to give care.
On a personal note...
It's hard for me to think about how many people have received advice from a church or confessional priest that ended up taking their lives. And it's hard for me to think about how quickly God-fearing people of any denomination can justify and cover things like that up. Both faith and medicine have long been big components of my academic and professional life. As someone who truly believes they compliment each other, I loathe to consider the people who twist faith into something that denies science, and vice versa. This book captures exactly that and it was both difficult and tragic. But of course the hopeful redeeming streak of a helper who succeeds makes it so beautiful.
It's frustratingly well done and the audio book was very engaging.
The main concerns / complaints that I could come up with relate to the accuracy and sort of romanticization of starving for months.
The writing flows well and it felt very natural and well paced even though it takes place over only a few weeks. Lib's growth is consistent and easy to follow, since she clearly states her changing motives throughout the short timeline. But it's horrifying to me that most of the characters can be so avoidant
It's definitely a highly triggering book but it handles the sensitive parts well in that it captures the devastation felt by a caregiver instructed not to give care.
On a personal note...
It's hard for me to think about how many people have received advice from a church or confessional priest that ended up taking their lives. And it's hard for me to think about how quickly God-fearing people of any denomination can justify and cover things like that up. Both faith and medicine have long been big components of my academic and professional life. As someone who truly believes they compliment each other, I loathe to consider the people who twist faith into something that denies science, and vice versa. This book captures exactly that and it was both difficult and tragic. But of course the hopeful redeeming streak of a helper who succeeds makes it so beautiful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Self harm, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting