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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
Good and painful with goodness and light sprinkled about....just like I like them! I knew nothing of the history of Australia and now I want to know more.
Had promise but didn’t fulfill
I find the history of Australia fascinating and so was excited to read a fiction book about the settling of convicts there. This book had great promise and started out strong (if a bit slow), but then seemed to lose its way. I wanted to hear more about Mathinna. We didn’t get any resolution to her story and it barely felt like there was a reason for her to be in the book beyond the author checking a box. I’m not sure that this is really a book about three females. It’s so piecemeal that it doesn’t feel cohesive enough to try to tie these women together tightly in one novel. In fact, Olive typically got more page time than Mathinna. It’s still interesting and well written. Worth reading, but I just wanted a bit more.
I find the history of Australia fascinating and so was excited to read a fiction book about the settling of convicts there. This book had great promise and started out strong (if a bit slow), but then seemed to lose its way. I wanted to hear more about Mathinna. We didn’t get any resolution to her story and it barely felt like there was a reason for her to be in the book beyond the author checking a box. I’m not sure that this is really a book about three females. It’s so piecemeal that it doesn’t feel cohesive enough to try to tie these women together tightly in one novel. In fact, Olive typically got more page time than Mathinna. It’s still interesting and well written. Worth reading, but I just wanted a bit more.
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
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:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Evangeline felt like a horse resisting a bridle. Resistance, she knew, was pointless; the horse always ends up in the bridle. And so would she.
This was an intriguing and well-written take on the colonization of Australia, and I really enjoyed the multiple POVs that were included, especially Mathinna's. I think Christina Baker Kline did an amazing job portraying the indigenous experience in relation to the colonists occupying Australia, and she also gave a voice to the women that suffered at the hands of arbitrary laws unjust accusations.
Didn't these colonists know that time doesn't move in a line from past to present but instead is continuous? That spirits and humans, animals and plants, are connected by the land, which binds ancestors to descendants in an eternal moment?
While the multiple POVs were very interesting, I think that I would've like to see a bit more from Mathinna's perspective towards the end of the book, especially as she grows older in a world where she no longer fits in as she once did. I also thought that the end felt just a tiny bit rushed, but it was still a good read overall.
This was an intriguing and well-written take on the colonization of Australia, and I really enjoyed the multiple POVs that were included, especially Mathinna's. I think Christina Baker Kline did an amazing job portraying the indigenous experience in relation to the colonists occupying Australia, and she also gave a voice to the women that suffered at the hands of arbitrary laws unjust accusations.
Didn't these colonists know that time doesn't move in a line from past to present but instead is continuous? That spirits and humans, animals and plants, are connected by the land, which binds ancestors to descendants in an eternal moment?
While the multiple POVs were very interesting, I think that I would've like to see a bit more from Mathinna's perspective towards the end of the book, especially as she grows older in a world where she no longer fits in as she once did. I also thought that the end felt just a tiny bit rushed, but it was still a good read overall.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
very much enjoyed this book — third book of cbk’s that i’ve read.
not a must-own for me, but would definitely grab it if I found it at the thrift.
loved learning about a period of history that isn’t commonly covered in historical fiction.
would definitely recommend for historical fiction fans that aren’t super-niched into a specific era.
not a must-own for me, but would definitely grab it if I found it at the thrift.
loved learning about a period of history that isn’t commonly covered in historical fiction.
would definitely recommend for historical fiction fans that aren’t super-niched into a specific era.