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alayoob313's review against another edition
1.0
I received this book from the publisher as a winner of a Goodreads contest in exchange for an honest review. This review contains some spoilers. I have to say I had such high hopes for this book but unfortunately it was highly disappointing. To start the characters were bland with no complexity, character development just never seemed to happen throughout the book. The protagonist appeared single dimensioned and self absorbed although he is supposedly a missionary - he leaves his wife to complete a mission and when she is in need and pregnant he loses all connection to her and disengages. His wife appears whiney and is presented in a light that does little to allow you to feel empathy for her despite the fact that her world is falling apart and her self absorbed supposedly humanitarian husband has abandoned her both physically and emotionally. Little is also done to develop the USIC employees, Oasans, and Oasis itself. For 500 pages I felt like I just kept waiting for something to happen and in the end you are just left hanging wondering why I devoted the time to read the book in its entirety. The only thing that kept me reading it in its entirety was hope, stubborness, and the fact that the prose is well written and easily readable. For me in the end the only character and aspect of the book I felt any connection or emotion to was the cat Joshua, who of course is tortured and dies evoking me to dislike the book more and want to throw it straight in the garbage. Sorry to say this as I don't like to write negative reviews and am someone who can find the silver lining in almost every cloud, but save yourself the waste of time in reading this book.
monicadee88's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not really sure what to say about this book except that I have extremely conflicting emotions about it. The novel is written superbly; Faber handles several tough topics with admirable grace. Too many times I wanted to underline or sticky note a line or paragraph but unfortunately I used a library copy. The story kept reminding me of Barbara Kingsolver's [b:The Poisonwood Bible|7244|The Poisonwood Bible|Barbara Kingsolver|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412242487s/7244.jpg|810663]: missionary sent to a foreign land to spread Christianity but the missionary learns more about the "aliens" than they learn about Jesus, and the voyage changes the missionary forever. I thoroughly enjoyed Kingsolver's book, but this one just didn't strike me the same way.
I felt let down by Peter's choices, as well as by those of his wife Bea. At first I was captivated by the mystery behind USIC and their purpose, by the wonders of the strange new world and its inhabitants, and suspense of Peter's and Bea's disintegrating relationship. But once I'd reached the end, I found it severely lacking. So although this book encouraged me to look at our world differently and inspired some deep internal thoughts about religion, it may be a long while before (if ever) I pick up this book again.
I felt let down by Peter's choices, as well as by those of his wife Bea. At first I was captivated by the mystery behind USIC and their purpose, by the wonders of the strange new world and its inhabitants, and suspense of Peter's and Bea's disintegrating relationship. But once I'd reached the end, I found it severely lacking. So although this book encouraged me to look at our world differently and inspired some deep internal thoughts about religion, it may be a long while before (if ever) I pick up this book again.
metalphoenix's review against another edition
2.0
500 pages of whining. Why is this style of book so popular these days? I don't get it - I need things to happen to enjoy a book. Unless your rambling on humanity or relationships or whatever is spectacularly unique or insightful, I don't want to spend 500 pages reading about it. Things need to HAPPEN, characters need to make decisions and have consequences and learn and grow and develop.
I kept waiting for a twist or a surprise that gave the sci-fi setting and characters any point, but none arose. The three most present characters - Peter, Bea, and Granger - are all so whiny and terrible, I really didn't care about them at all, which didn't help much.
It felt like there was a lot of way more interesting stuff happening in the background (USIC recruitment process, censorship, Oasan healing issues, conflicting personality types of those who abandoned the base, etc.) and all of it was washed out by all the blah blah between Peter and Bea and Granger. Give me a story from Jesus Lover Five's POV or another USIC employee or SOMETHING.
I kept waiting for a twist or a surprise that gave the sci-fi setting and characters any point, but none arose. The three most present characters - Peter, Bea, and Granger - are all so whiny and terrible, I really didn't care about them at all, which didn't help much.
It felt like there was a lot of way more interesting stuff happening in the background (USIC recruitment process, censorship, Oasan healing issues, conflicting personality types of those who abandoned the base, etc.) and all of it was washed out by all the blah blah between Peter and Bea and Granger. Give me a story from Jesus Lover Five's POV or another USIC employee or SOMETHING.
miss_blackbird's review against another edition
4.0
It builds very slowly. At first, you get irritated by the Christian missionary mumble, sweettalking. It builds, and it builds. But then it is revealed. The horror, the truth.
the_enobee's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed The Book of Strange New Things, and I will definitely look into more Michel Faber books. However, I'm not really sold that there was a beginning, middle, and end to this novel. The writing was top notch and the plot was highly interesting, but conflicts keep occurring that are largely left unresolved. A cool book with a lot of different viewpoints, but not easy to recommend unless you're a Michel Faber fan.
ghost_thorns's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.25
mzamoram17's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
1.5
trollbeard's review against another edition
1.0
This is less about the complications of interplanetary travel and encountering an entirely new group of otherworldly sentient beings, but more about human relationships and the strain put upon them by distance. The premise of the story was incredibly compelling, but never materialized in an interesting way.
This story could just as easily been about a missionary traveling to a remote part of the world and spreading the word of God to a curious native population. Other than their appearance, the Oasans were unimaginative, and frankly dull as characters, whereas the driving elements in this novel came from Bea, Peter's wife who he has left behind. At first I was incredibly curious about the Oasans, yet as the novel progressed I cared much less about the boring natives of the planet Peter was visiting and more about how his wife would react to how incredibly insensitive and self-absorbed he had become.
This being said, I wanted to keep reading. I was interested throughout, and even though I was interested in ways I wouldn't expect from a novel of science fiction, I was definitely driven to finish The Book of Strange New Things.
This story could just as easily been about a missionary traveling to a remote part of the world and spreading the word of God to a curious native population. Other than their appearance, the Oasans were unimaginative, and frankly dull as characters, whereas the driving elements in this novel came from Bea, Peter's wife who he has left behind. At first I was incredibly curious about the Oasans, yet as the novel progressed I cared much less about the boring natives of the planet Peter was visiting and more about how his wife would react to how incredibly insensitive and self-absorbed he had become.
This being said, I wanted to keep reading. I was interested throughout, and even though I was interested in ways I wouldn't expect from a novel of science fiction, I was definitely driven to finish The Book of Strange New Things.
veelaughtland's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0