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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
I really liked how the author wove together the different stories, and I enjoyed sleuthing out the connections between the characters. I loved the scenes where Person A would think something about Person B, and then we would jump over to Person B's perspective and realize that Person A had the story totally wrong. It was a good reminder that what we think about other people is often wrong. I think Gin was my favorite character, because she was so unique and interesting, and I loved how her story unfolded. I also liked how the book takes place in a world that's almost like ours, but just slightly different. That, plus the writing style, gave the whole story a sort of dreamy, edgy quality.
medium-paced
easy-to-swallow dystopian novel with reproductive justice as the main link for all the characters
This feminist dystopia reminded of “The Handmaid Tale” on its basic ideas and theme, with the application of laws that limit women's rights. In this case, laws are applied that limit access to in vitro fertilization, penalization of abortion and access to the adoption of unitary families. These ideas aren’t new, with several lines of thought that consider that a woman's fertility must be controlled. Personally, I never understood the obsession that many people have with controlling a woman's body and decisions.
Since this book is focused on topics that I like to read, I thought I would be able to obtain greater satisfaction from this reading. However, the author chose to create an intentional emotional detachment from the characters and their perspectives that seemed harmful to me as a reader. Each character deals with a problem related to being a woman, but the type of personal history told is one that can be expected from this type of story with a conclusion that is also predictable and boring.
I think I expected more from this book. A story full of possibilities that falls short by the narrative approach chosen and by its predictability.
Since this book is focused on topics that I like to read, I thought I would be able to obtain greater satisfaction from this reading. However, the author chose to create an intentional emotional detachment from the characters and their perspectives that seemed harmful to me as a reader. Each character deals with a problem related to being a woman, but the type of personal history told is one that can be expected from this type of story with a conclusion that is also predictable and boring.
I think I expected more from this book. A story full of possibilities that falls short by the narrative approach chosen and by its predictability.
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t like all of the characters and it was slow at times.
This was an instant favourite just chefs kiss we love it here. Also possibly got my out of my reading slump.
I went into this book knowing almost nothing and I think that works best for this, but I have seen some criticism of the book so I’m going to chat about some of the main issues I’ve seen in case you’re deliberating.
It seems to me a lot of the complaints of this book range from feeling detached from the characters and that it’s too experimentally and conceptually feminist in its tones. I felt neither of these things, though I can understand why those views might exist.
Zumas writes essentially in five perspectives, and each chapter for the character is short, usually only a couple of pages. In that sense, I never felt latched onto a specific character or like I was rooting for a specific character, but rather that I was seeing snippets of a character’s life that I could relate to. Nonetheless, I loved every single character almost as if I listening to a friend tell me her story.
As for being too conceptual and experimental, the description is very accurate. It’s speculative fiction and of course it’s not going to be an easy read because it’s meant to be different and pose a warning to what our reality could become. The realities these characters face is dreadful, but that’s the point. It’s the concept of how our lives as women would be should our rights be taken away, so I’m confused why ‘conceptual’ is used against the book.
In summary, my two cents is that it’s definitely worth the read if the description and idea grabbed you. It definitely was for me!
I went into this book knowing almost nothing and I think that works best for this, but I have seen some criticism of the book so I’m going to chat about some of the main issues I’ve seen in case you’re deliberating.
It seems to me a lot of the complaints of this book range from feeling detached from the characters and that it’s too experimentally and conceptually feminist in its tones. I felt neither of these things, though I can understand why those views might exist.
Zumas writes essentially in five perspectives, and each chapter for the character is short, usually only a couple of pages. In that sense, I never felt latched onto a specific character or like I was rooting for a specific character, but rather that I was seeing snippets of a character’s life that I could relate to. Nonetheless, I loved every single character almost as if I listening to a friend tell me her story.
As for being too conceptual and experimental, the description is very accurate. It’s speculative fiction and of course it’s not going to be an easy read because it’s meant to be different and pose a warning to what our reality could become. The realities these characters face is dreadful, but that’s the point. It’s the concept of how our lives as women would be should our rights be taken away, so I’m confused why ‘conceptual’ is used against the book.
In summary, my two cents is that it’s definitely worth the read if the description and idea grabbed you. It definitely was for me!
3.5 stars
This book was written in a way that wasn't really for me, but for others who prefer a more poetic style. Because of the writing style, I had a hard time really getting into it. The lack of names led to a lot of confusion throughout the duration of the book, but eventually I was able to get into a reading groove. The addition of the pieces about the explorer was weird, because I wasn't entirely sure how it all fit in. And the whales. This is a book that you sort of want to let fester in the back of your mind, and pieces might come together later. One of those books that you think about for a long time after the fact, even if you didn't love it.
At some points I debated putting it down, but then I would read a line so powerful that I was hooked. So I flipflopped a lot throughout this book, but due to short chapters, it was easy to read and get through the slower spots.
One line that hit me hard, to the point that I even dog-earred the page, was 'She can recall reading aloud "manslaughter" as "man's laughter"'... I think that was the most powerful line in the whole book.
This book was written in a way that wasn't really for me, but for others who prefer a more poetic style. Because of the writing style, I had a hard time really getting into it. The lack of names led to a lot of confusion throughout the duration of the book, but eventually I was able to get into a reading groove. The addition of the pieces about the explorer was weird, because I wasn't entirely sure how it all fit in. And the whales. This is a book that you sort of want to let fester in the back of your mind, and pieces might come together later. One of those books that you think about for a long time after the fact, even if you didn't love it.
At some points I debated putting it down, but then I would read a line so powerful that I was hooked. So I flipflopped a lot throughout this book, but due to short chapters, it was easy to read and get through the slower spots.
One line that hit me hard, to the point that I even dog-earred the page, was 'She can recall reading aloud "manslaughter" as "man's laughter"'... I think that was the most powerful line in the whole book.
Super good, but wished it was longer. I did not see the ending coming and I thought it was over a little bit too soon.