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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
hopeful
sad
slow-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
All Our Shimmering Skies strikes gold again! Really strong second novel from Trent Dalton, I enjoyed this immensely. I appreciate that he told a new kind of story - possibly one he was more eager to tell - rather than writing something more similar to Boy Swallows Universe. I really enjoyed the characters Dalton established in this book and no setting is better suited to his descriptive and flowery writing style than the Australian deep country. If I had a criticism - and that's if I really needed to - it would be that although both Boy Swallows Universe and All Our Shimmering Skies have a similar amount of description and imagery, BSU never felt as if it was dragging the pace because the simarly lengthed book took place over many years. The shorter narrative timespan paired with Dalton's indulgence into beautiful descriptive language can sometimes cause this book to have some very brief lulls. Still, it was hardly an issue for me and didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book. I'm sure that as a writer it would be difficult to map out your second novel after your debut finds massive critical and commercial acclaim, but AOSS took all the right risks in doing so. It's strange to say after I've given both Boy Swallows Universe and this 5 stars, but I get the strong sense that Dalton's third book is when he will really find his corner of the literary landscape and we will see his plans for the rest of his career. Whatever it is, he can count on at least one pre-order from yours truly.
Poor little gravedigger girl. Mad little gravedigger girl. That's what the people in town call 12-year-old Molly Hook. Molly, who lost her mother early. Molly, who talks to animals and inanimate objects. Molly, who helps her father and her cruel uncle dig graves. Her best friend is the sky, her second-best friend is her shovel, Bert.
Her family is cursed because her grandfather stole a chunk of raw gold from the mysterious "Longcoat Bob". Ever since, terrible things happen to the Hooks, and if they don't die young, they become bitter and mean. Molly knows it's true because she sees how her father Horace and her uncle Aubrey steal valuables from the graves. She sees a black hunger in her uncle, a hunger for gold and and a hunger for violence.
Molly decides to go find Longcoat Bob in the Outback, to ask him to reverse the curse. But then Japanese bombs destroy half of the city, and Molly barely escapes with her life. In Greta, a German actress, and Yukio, a Japanese fighter pilot who no longer wants to kill, she finds unexpected companions for her great journey.
This book is a true gem. It's the most original novel I've read in a long time, a colorful adventure with a touch of magical realism and so many twists and turns that it can make you dizzy. But it's also a panorama of human nature in all its aspects and nuances.
Trent Dalton brings places and characters to life with poetic, expressive words. The result is a profound and enchanting story that covers the whole spectrum of emotions: tragic, funny, heart-wrenching, hopeful.
"Dig, Molly, dig," says the day sky.
"Read, reader, read," says Mikka."
Her family is cursed because her grandfather stole a chunk of raw gold from the mysterious "Longcoat Bob". Ever since, terrible things happen to the Hooks, and if they don't die young, they become bitter and mean. Molly knows it's true because she sees how her father Horace and her uncle Aubrey steal valuables from the graves. She sees a black hunger in her uncle, a hunger for gold and and a hunger for violence.
Molly decides to go find Longcoat Bob in the Outback, to ask him to reverse the curse. But then Japanese bombs destroy half of the city, and Molly barely escapes with her life. In Greta, a German actress, and Yukio, a Japanese fighter pilot who no longer wants to kill, she finds unexpected companions for her great journey.
This book is a true gem. It's the most original novel I've read in a long time, a colorful adventure with a touch of magical realism and so many twists and turns that it can make you dizzy. But it's also a panorama of human nature in all its aspects and nuances.
Trent Dalton brings places and characters to life with poetic, expressive words. The result is a profound and enchanting story that covers the whole spectrum of emotions: tragic, funny, heart-wrenching, hopeful.
"Dig, Molly, dig," says the day sky.
"Read, reader, read," says Mikka."
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
The writing in this book is fenomenal. Daltons writing is poetic and as beautiful as ever and just as I remember from "boy swallows universe". It would have been a five star if it wasn't for the fact that the beginning dragged on to much. I struggled really getting into it. The second half though is wonderful. Maybe it could have benefited from losing about 100 pages. But still beautiful characters, stunning prose and a love letter to Australia.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Wow! Wow!! Wow!!! Another 5 star read from Trent Dalton. Beautiful, sad, vibrant, exciting, dreary and depressing, vivid and magnificent, full of rich characters and gorgeous settings. I LOVED this book.
I loved Molly and her optimism and ability to see beauty everywhere. I loved how her journey through the bush was like Dorothy’s journey through Oz, going from the dark dreariness of her life full of death and misery in Darwin to the glorious technicolour of beauty and danger in the Australian rainforest. I just adored this depiction of Australia, which is so much closer to the Aus I know than Jane Harper’s drought-ridden desert of The Dry and The Lost Man. If this book doesn’t make you want to visit the Northern Territory bush then nothing will.
I loved all the characters - even the evil ones, in the way that there are some characters you love to hate. I loved Greta and her strength and softness and glamour and drama. I loved Yukio and the touches of Japanese culture. I loved Sam and his indigenous culture. I loved how Trent played it safe and respectful by keeping everything from Molly’s perspective, rather than writing in-depth about the Aboriginal characters and culture but I do wish we had a little more insight and background into Sam and a little more from Longcoat Bob, who kind of remains a bit of a mystical character. I would have liked Molly to finally realise he is just a man, and not the sorcerer she always believed him to be.
Wonderful. Can’t wait to see what delights TD conjures up next. Oh and you know the saying “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”? This is EXACTLY like its cover. If I could hang a book on my wall as a work of art, this would be the one I’d choose. But I might have to just settle with finding a print of the cover.
I loved Molly and her optimism and ability to see beauty everywhere. I loved how her journey through the bush was like Dorothy’s journey through Oz, going from the dark dreariness of her life full of death and misery in Darwin to the glorious technicolour of beauty and danger in the Australian rainforest. I just adored this depiction of Australia, which is so much closer to the Aus I know than Jane Harper’s drought-ridden desert of The Dry and The Lost Man. If this book doesn’t make you want to visit the Northern Territory bush then nothing will.
I loved all the characters - even the evil ones, in the way that there are some characters you love to hate. I loved Greta and her strength and softness and glamour and drama. I loved Yukio and the touches of Japanese culture. I loved Sam and his indigenous culture. I loved how Trent played it safe and respectful by keeping everything from Molly’s perspective, rather than writing in-depth about the Aboriginal characters and culture but I do wish we had a little more insight and background into Sam and a little more from Longcoat Bob, who kind of remains a bit of a mystical character. I would have liked Molly to finally realise he is just a man, and not the sorcerer she always believed him to be.
Wonderful. Can’t wait to see what delights TD conjures up next. Oh and you know the saying “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”? This is EXACTLY like its cover. If I could hang a book on my wall as a work of art, this would be the one I’d choose. But I might have to just settle with finding a print of the cover.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A deeply harrowing story, with a loveable lead character.
This Australian historical fiction sees Molly Hook, the gravedigger girl, set out on a quest to find answers, treasure and happiness as she tries to escape from her depressive, lonely and often violent life.
Trent has displayed care and respect to Aboriginal people, lands and ways throughout this book.
This Australian historical fiction sees Molly Hook, the gravedigger girl, set out on a quest to find answers, treasure and happiness as she tries to escape from her depressive, lonely and often violent life.
Trent has displayed care and respect to Aboriginal people, lands and ways throughout this book.
I found the first third of the book very slow going, but past halfway I was riveted and became very emotionally invested by the end. One thing that was clear the whole way through is that it's beautifully written.