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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
great book. lesbians? yes!!! wonderful. i wasn't sure if the ending was a happy ending after all and i like that it was unclear.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent
Beautiful writing style, poetic and gorgeous sentences, and a lot of details. In addition, this book has great lgbt+ representation! However, I was not that into the plot as a whole and, at least in my opinion, the narration felt like it lacked intensity.
Ei yhtä hyvä kuin Itärannan mestarillinen esikoinen (Teemestarin kirja). Kuitenkin kaunis, kuvaileva, kerronnallinen, elävä. Näin paikat edessäni kuin olisin katsellut niitä esim. televisiosta. Edelläkävijä: samaa sukupuolta olevien henkilöiden romanssia ei ihmetelty, suurenneltu, selitelty eikä terminologiaa suhteen laadusta käytetty. Päähenkilön suurin omituisuus ei kerrankin ollut hänen seksuaalisuutensa vaan joku ihan muu. Lisää kirjoja, joissa saman sukupuolen edustajien romanssi on olemassa yhtä oikeutetusti ja selittelemättä kuin heteroromanssit, kaivataan. Hieno, joskin surullinen mutta kaunis kirja.
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Not the sort of book I would normally choose. Fantasy is not my favourite genre but I did find it interesting.
I was really looking forward to reading this novel as it is by a Finnish author and it was the first read I have participated in with my book club for a few months. I was also glad that I found it at my local library. With this being said, I'm still unsure about my exact feelings surrounding this novel. At first I found this novel difficult to sink my teeth in to as it was hard to embrace and imagine the fantasy world that the author was trying to create. I really didn't pick just how much fantasy would be involved in the story. To be honest I thought it would be more historical fiction so I struggled with the fantasy off and on throughout the novel but was able to perceiver as I wanted to know what would happen to the characters and through all the pieces would come in to place eventually.
In relation to the story, the complication was introduced early and kept me interested, I always say I love a short, sweet and to the point read and this was one. I liked the characters that were created and developed however I felt like the story ended with little closure for all of the characters except Eliana.
I think the biggest theme and message that this novel carried was the issues faced by displaced people and those who displace them and the inevitable that consumes their lives.
At times I loved the phrases and use of figurative language. In particular there were some very moving quotes towards the end of the novel which rang true to real life. The last paragraph in particular stood out for me "For our hours are brief and our days are brittle, and the marks our hands leave on the world belong to us and yet are beyond our own limits" (pg320).
In relation to the story, the complication was introduced early and kept me interested, I always say I love a short, sweet and to the point read and this was one. I liked the characters that were created and developed however I felt like the story ended with little closure for all of the characters except Eliana.
I think the biggest theme and message that this novel carried was the issues faced by displaced people and those who displace them and the inevitable that consumes their lives.
At times I loved the phrases and use of figurative language. In particular there were some very moving quotes towards the end of the novel which rang true to real life. The last paragraph in particular stood out for me "For our hours are brief and our days are brittle, and the marks our hands leave on the world belong to us and yet are beyond our own limits" (pg320).
Things starts off great - an interesting world doled out in manageable chunks! An easy-to-like character that's caught up in Happenings! A mystery with a sure to be gruesome villain!
But as much as I like the beginning the book stalls. It's not the plot, exactly, or the character development, but the lack of love given to the world they're inhabiting. The what is lovingly explained, but Eliana's lack of interest in the why means we don't get many answers. Who are the people who came to this island, and what drove them to make such segregated groups? Why does the council have such power, and where did that power come from? Ships travel between the island and other places, so what holds the inhabitants here? And so on. The ground level world building is solid enough, but there's little added to that foundation.
I like that there's a main female/female relationship and the fact that it's f/f doesn't raise any eyebrows. A side character is gender queer/fluid/trans, perhaps, but it's barely examined so I don't want label them.
While the set up and idea are interesting when more depth is required we find ourselves stuck in an ill-woven web.
But as much as I like the beginning the book stalls. It's not the plot, exactly, or the character development, but the lack of love given to the world they're inhabiting. The what is lovingly explained, but Eliana's lack of interest in the why means we don't get many answers. Who are the people who came to this island, and what drove them to make such segregated groups? Why does the council have such power, and where did that power come from? Ships travel between the island and other places, so what holds the inhabitants here? And so on. The ground level world building is solid enough, but there's little added to that foundation.
I like that there's a main female/female relationship and the fact that it's f/f doesn't raise any eyebrows. A side character is gender queer/fluid/trans, perhaps, but it's barely examined so I don't want label them.
While the set up and idea are interesting when more depth is required we find ourselves stuck in an ill-woven web.
''This night is different. Sleep is thin in the house, because strange blood is drying on the stones of the square.''
What is left when even the ability to dream (literally) is considered a crime? And even worse, when your dreams are nightmares for which you may be punished severely? You are marked by society, exiled to the House of the Tainted, the left-overs of the community.
I tend to approach every book that wishes to belong to the Dystopian genre with extreme cautiousness. First of all, when [b:1984|5470|1984|George Orwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348990566s/5470.jpg|153313] and [b:The Handmaid's Tale|38447|The Handmaid's Tale|Margaret Atwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1546031886s/38447.jpg|1119185] grace my bookcase, there's bound to be a comparison. Secondly, everyone and their mother have decided to write a dystopian novel of late and I have always had a slight disliking for things that are en vogue. However, Emmi Itäranta comes from Finland and call me biased, but I would even read a phone book if it was written by an author from the Nordic lands. And thus, I ventured into The City of Woven Streets.
The title is extremely intriguing and the two themes on which the story is built are dreaming and isolation. This society isn't as bleak and dark as others we have come across. It is made beautiful by the intricate webs created in the House of Weavers. In this dystopia, governed by the Council, dreaming is not allowed. Dreaming equals Freedom, the Council cannot control the thoughts of the islanders and this is toxic to them and their regime. This is a very interesting premise on Itäranta's part. We've seen many kinds of totalitarian societies, but not one where occupation is so absolute, so extreme that stretches into the most private, personal, solitary activity of a human being, that of sleeping.
''First the monster swallows you, then it digests you and eventually you come out of the other end feeling filthy.''
The night terrors can be quite a shocking experience. I used to suffer from sleep paralysis during my university years when my anxiety level was sky-high. Naturally, we know that science has explained this weird phenomenon to the point of exhaustion, but still, I cannot avoid thinking how its traces approach the thin line between the Natural and the Supernatural worlds. In the novel, the writer makes good use of the myth of the night-maere (as is the original spelling), the Old Hag as it is also called. In Greece, we call it ''Mora'' and the people of the past used to believe that it was a demon, visiting those who were ''unclean'', targeted by the devil. Not unsimilar to the belief of the Council in the story. Here, the dominant religion is organised around a mysterious figure of many faces called Our Lady of Weaving, a combination of many goddesses of the European pantheons, and a divinity we never come to know much about.
''A wind does not rise. A rain does not come. The dead stay dead, and do not respond.''
''Do you look at this island and believe you see the truth?''
Placing a dystopian community within the narrow space of an island makes the feeling of isolation and enclosure tense and atmospheric. The mists arising from the waters cover the city and the characters' actions. There is no contact between Eliana and her brother, except for the times when he comes to visit her.
All these must sound very interesting and, believe me they are, but there are a few weaknesses as well. The plot becomes tedious after a point. All the talk and the details about the different kinds of ink and their ingredients become boring and slow down the narration. Around the 60% mark, it became too wordy, with long descriptions that offer nothing new and I began to lose interest. Worse, I started feeling confused, losing touch with the plot and this doesn't happen often. The characters are nothing to write home about, to be honest. Eliana is a nice, sympathetic heroine, clever, loyal, developing an interesting relationship with Valeria- a rather mysterious presence- but nothing we haven't seen before.
I don't know if it is considered a YA novel as I am not familiar with the category, but I can say that it is an interesting book, a nice addition to the Dystopia genre and I definitely intend to read [b:Memory of Water|18505844|Memory of Water|Emmi Itäranta|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389990493s/18505844.jpg|18908129] by the same author. However, The City of Woven Streets, as well-written as it may be, is not [b:The Handmaid's Tale|38447|The Handmaid's Tale|Margaret Atwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1546031886s/38447.jpg|1119185] for the younger generation.
What is left when even the ability to dream (literally) is considered a crime? And even worse, when your dreams are nightmares for which you may be punished severely? You are marked by society, exiled to the House of the Tainted, the left-overs of the community.
I tend to approach every book that wishes to belong to the Dystopian genre with extreme cautiousness. First of all, when [b:1984|5470|1984|George Orwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348990566s/5470.jpg|153313] and [b:The Handmaid's Tale|38447|The Handmaid's Tale|Margaret Atwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1546031886s/38447.jpg|1119185] grace my bookcase, there's bound to be a comparison. Secondly, everyone and their mother have decided to write a dystopian novel of late and I have always had a slight disliking for things that are en vogue. However, Emmi Itäranta comes from Finland and call me biased, but I would even read a phone book if it was written by an author from the Nordic lands. And thus, I ventured into The City of Woven Streets.
The title is extremely intriguing and the two themes on which the story is built are dreaming and isolation. This society isn't as bleak and dark as others we have come across. It is made beautiful by the intricate webs created in the House of Weavers. In this dystopia, governed by the Council, dreaming is not allowed. Dreaming equals Freedom, the Council cannot control the thoughts of the islanders and this is toxic to them and their regime. This is a very interesting premise on Itäranta's part. We've seen many kinds of totalitarian societies, but not one where occupation is so absolute, so extreme that stretches into the most private, personal, solitary activity of a human being, that of sleeping.
''First the monster swallows you, then it digests you and eventually you come out of the other end feeling filthy.''
The night terrors can be quite a shocking experience. I used to suffer from sleep paralysis during my university years when my anxiety level was sky-high. Naturally, we know that science has explained this weird phenomenon to the point of exhaustion, but still, I cannot avoid thinking how its traces approach the thin line between the Natural and the Supernatural worlds. In the novel, the writer makes good use of the myth of the night-maere (as is the original spelling), the Old Hag as it is also called. In Greece, we call it ''Mora'' and the people of the past used to believe that it was a demon, visiting those who were ''unclean'', targeted by the devil. Not unsimilar to the belief of the Council in the story. Here, the dominant religion is organised around a mysterious figure of many faces called Our Lady of Weaving, a combination of many goddesses of the European pantheons, and a divinity we never come to know much about.
''A wind does not rise. A rain does not come. The dead stay dead, and do not respond.''
''Do you look at this island and believe you see the truth?''
Placing a dystopian community within the narrow space of an island makes the feeling of isolation and enclosure tense and atmospheric. The mists arising from the waters cover the city and the characters' actions. There is no contact between Eliana and her brother, except for the times when he comes to visit her.
All these must sound very interesting and, believe me they are, but there are a few weaknesses as well. The plot becomes tedious after a point. All the talk and the details about the different kinds of ink and their ingredients become boring and slow down the narration. Around the 60% mark, it became too wordy, with long descriptions that offer nothing new and I began to lose interest. Worse, I started feeling confused, losing touch with the plot and this doesn't happen often. The characters are nothing to write home about, to be honest. Eliana is a nice, sympathetic heroine, clever, loyal, developing an interesting relationship with Valeria- a rather mysterious presence- but nothing we haven't seen before.
I don't know if it is considered a YA novel as I am not familiar with the category, but I can say that it is an interesting book, a nice addition to the Dystopia genre and I definitely intend to read [b:Memory of Water|18505844|Memory of Water|Emmi Itäranta|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389990493s/18505844.jpg|18908129] by the same author. However, The City of Woven Streets, as well-written as it may be, is not [b:The Handmaid's Tale|38447|The Handmaid's Tale|Margaret Atwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1546031886s/38447.jpg|1119185] for the younger generation.