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book_wormhole's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.75
1madchild's review against another edition
3.0
hmm, not sure about this one.
great writing, a little repatatve but i think that was a purposefull device. i wouldve liked more of an ending i think. i felt like the reader wasnt really given the change to receover. all a bit english class.
great writing, a little repatatve but i think that was a purposefull device. i wouldve liked more of an ending i think. i felt like the reader wasnt really given the change to receover. all a bit english class.
patchworkbunny's review
5.0
What a stunning novel this is, dealing with what happens when we are faced with the fragility of human life. Adam's previously healthy teenager daughter collapses one day at school. Her heart stops. How do you go one with life knowing that life can stop so suddenly? How do you protect your children when they could just die like that?
I've seen The Tidal Zone called a state of the nation novel, and bearing in mind it was written in pre-Brexit I think this is a fair assessment. The NHS is portrayed honestly but not meanly. The limbo of waiting in hospital, of kind nurses and dismissive consultants. The hardship of waiting to know what caused your teenage daughter to die, if briefly, and no one seeming to know.
Adam's a stay-at-home dad and it touches on how that can be perceived. For instance when he takes his younger daughter to a party at a swimming pool, he must navigate the changing rooms and then be accused of staring in an inappropriate manner at the girls when he's just watching his daughter. Yet he is always a parent, he's never trying to get extra credit for being a man and a parent. It highlights how we still have far to come in gender equality.
It proves Sarah's talent at writing convincing characters that I kept thinking I was reading a memoir. The tangents probably help with this, Adam's work and his father's history. After reading so much YA, I loved reading about a teenager from the parent's point of view for once. I can just imagine what it would be like from idealistic and frustrated Miriam's perspective.
I don't think I'd ever have picked up a book about the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral but I was actually fascinated by the chapters which reflect what Adam is writing for his work. It's the story of rebuilding after disaster which reflects what he is feeling in his family life. it is also like having a non-fiction book inside a novel and as someone who quite often splits my reading up this way, I loved it. Coventry was badly bombed during the war and it starts with this, and follows the planning and competition for the new design.
I loved the ending, it's more of a non-ending, the fact that lives go on and you don't get neat conclusions. Why did it take me so long to discover Sarah Moss?
I've seen The Tidal Zone called a state of the nation novel, and bearing in mind it was written in pre-Brexit I think this is a fair assessment. The NHS is portrayed honestly but not meanly. The limbo of waiting in hospital, of kind nurses and dismissive consultants. The hardship of waiting to know what caused your teenage daughter to die, if briefly, and no one seeming to know.
Adam's a stay-at-home dad and it touches on how that can be perceived. For instance when he takes his younger daughter to a party at a swimming pool, he must navigate the changing rooms and then be accused of staring in an inappropriate manner at the girls when he's just watching his daughter. Yet he is always a parent, he's never trying to get extra credit for being a man and a parent. It highlights how we still have far to come in gender equality.
It proves Sarah's talent at writing convincing characters that I kept thinking I was reading a memoir. The tangents probably help with this, Adam's work and his father's history. After reading so much YA, I loved reading about a teenager from the parent's point of view for once. I can just imagine what it would be like from idealistic and frustrated Miriam's perspective.
I don't think I'd ever have picked up a book about the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral but I was actually fascinated by the chapters which reflect what Adam is writing for his work. It's the story of rebuilding after disaster which reflects what he is feeling in his family life. it is also like having a non-fiction book inside a novel and as someone who quite often splits my reading up this way, I loved it. Coventry was badly bombed during the war and it starts with this, and follows the planning and competition for the new design.
I loved the ending, it's more of a non-ending, the fact that lives go on and you don't get neat conclusions. Why did it take me so long to discover Sarah Moss?
amburston's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-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? No
4.5
elisabeth_julia's review against another edition
2.0
I can’t say I enjoyed reading this book, but I could still find elements in it that were of value to me. For example, I loved the exploration of grief and fear of loss that this book offers. It is about parents who almost lost their daughter for no reason other than her suddenly stopping to breathe – without explanation. If that’s not one of the most terrifying things I can think of as a parent I don’t know what is. So half terrified and half fascinated I read this book because I felt for the parents and I liked the quiet way “The Tidal Zone” is written in. In the end, I closed the book feeling enriched because it contained some valuable messages.
Then there were parts of the book I didn’t like. Almost every second chapter it goes off into specifics about the history of the architecture of cathedrals (because that’s the father’s profession in the book) and I think it’s supposed to be a metaphor for something and add profoundness or whatever. Of course this is incredibly boring (if you don’t care about the history of architecture in England) and to be blunt, it’s also pretentious. I was invested in the book and it stood out for so many other reasons than that. Unfortunately, this ruined my reading enjoyment, which is why I can’t rate "The Tidal Zone" any higher.
Then there were parts of the book I didn’t like. Almost every second chapter it goes off into specifics about the history of the architecture of cathedrals (because that’s the father’s profession in the book) and I think it’s supposed to be a metaphor for something and add profoundness or whatever. Of course this is incredibly boring (if you don’t care about the history of architecture in England) and to be blunt, it’s also pretentious. I was invested in the book and it stood out for so many other reasons than that. Unfortunately, this ruined my reading enjoyment, which is why I can’t rate "The Tidal Zone" any higher.
bookdon's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
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? Yes
4.25
jacki_f's review against another edition
3.0
Adam and Emma live in Coventry with their two daughters. Miriam is 15, principled and highly intelligent. Rose is 8. Emma works as a doctor and Adam is the stay at home parent and part-time academic. Then one day Adam gets a call from Miriam's school. Miriam has collapsed and was clinically dead for several minutes before being revived.
The Tidal Zone is about the fall out from this incident as the family - and particularly Adan who narrates the book - try to come to terms with what has happened. Woven into this story is the story of Adam's father and also the history of Coventry Cathedral which he is researching.
Sarah Moss's writing sings. One of the things that I love when I'm reading is when I come across a descriptor of something that strikes a chord of recognition. "Yes!" I think, "that's how I feel too". And I had a number of such moments. When my elder son was born he was in hospital for over 3 months and Moss really captures how it feels to go through that, little things like the way you obsess on the monitors and know the different chimes by heart and how surreal and exhilarating it feels everytime you exit the hospital and the world is still going on outside those walls. She also has a poet's eye for the world - for example there was a lovely description of ships with their "Duplo edifices of containers bringing televisions and bananas and trainers and sofas' which I was reminded of when I saw a ship in the harbour this morning. It's a beautifully written book to read slowly and savour.
And yet there were also things that didn't work for me. Firstly, Miriam's voice was just too adult for me to accept that she was 15. I know bright and sophisticated girls of that age, but Miriam was so consistently smart and erudite that it kept taking me out of the narrative. Secondly, the sub-plot about Adam's father just didn't add anything to the book for me. And finally, maybe most importantly, I got tired of Adam and his endless self-pity. I understood it, but ultimately I just wanted him to pull himself together and stop thinking that the world revolved around him.
The Tidal Zone is about the fall out from this incident as the family - and particularly Adan who narrates the book - try to come to terms with what has happened. Woven into this story is the story of Adam's father and also the history of Coventry Cathedral which he is researching.
Sarah Moss's writing sings. One of the things that I love when I'm reading is when I come across a descriptor of something that strikes a chord of recognition. "Yes!" I think, "that's how I feel too". And I had a number of such moments. When my elder son was born he was in hospital for over 3 months and Moss really captures how it feels to go through that, little things like the way you obsess on the monitors and know the different chimes by heart and how surreal and exhilarating it feels everytime you exit the hospital and the world is still going on outside those walls. She also has a poet's eye for the world - for example there was a lovely description of ships with their "Duplo edifices of containers bringing televisions and bananas and trainers and sofas' which I was reminded of when I saw a ship in the harbour this morning. It's a beautifully written book to read slowly and savour.
And yet there were also things that didn't work for me. Firstly, Miriam's voice was just too adult for me to accept that she was 15. I know bright and sophisticated girls of that age, but Miriam was so consistently smart and erudite that it kept taking me out of the narrative. Secondly, the sub-plot about Adam's father just didn't add anything to the book for me. And finally, maybe most importantly, I got tired of Adam and his endless self-pity. I understood it, but ultimately I just wanted him to pull himself together and stop thinking that the world revolved around him.
joweston's review against another edition
4.0
It's a 3.5- 4 stars for me. It was beautifully written, but there were sections where I felt it dragged on just a bit too much on any given subject in the narrator's head. I realise we were getting the insight to his life and his world, but I did drift a bit in certain sections.
That said, a great portrayal of family life, love, and the life changing experience of a life threatening moment. And interesting that it was written by a women, using the voice of the stay at home father. It did feel "real".
I will continue to look out for what Sarah Moss writes next.
That said, a great portrayal of family life, love, and the life changing experience of a life threatening moment. And interesting that it was written by a women, using the voice of the stay at home father. It did feel "real".
I will continue to look out for what Sarah Moss writes next.
amycrea's review against another edition
4.0
Really 3.5. There were parts of this book that were 5-star, but others that were not. Overall it was longer than it needed to be, and there were some extended subplots which I understand were meant to metaphorically support the main story, but they often dragged that main story down instead. And yet the parts that were good were SO good...