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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
I listened to this as an audiobook, and I think that actually made it a little more enjoyable, but I found myself more drawn in by his actual writing and word choices than the storyline or characters. The jumps in the timeline could be confusing, and I felt like I must be missing something that it didn't feel like a phenomenal book, as I would expect from this author.
Good story but I struggled to get engaged till over halfway through. The writing does a lot of flashbacks/foreshadowing that was sometimes hard to follow.
Hard to read, felt like some parts too poetical for me, couldn’t comprehend or imagine what author was hoping to impart. Story was ok, boys had odd relationship and descriptions. Some sweet parts.
Beautifully woven and very emotional.
I loved The Book Thief and Zusak's fascinating forms of narrating combined with his rather touching story and characters are evident within this novel. The characters have very real elements, they are not flawless and perfect but are people (however, there are some elements of their characters that are unreliable to certain groups of people e.g. I am female and am not close enough in age with my siblings to experience many of the pleasantries within the story). Also as the story is Australian based and elements of its landscape are often very evident, I find it quite refreshing as an Australian reader.
I particularly enjoyed the interesting layout of this book, being very fond of multiple timelines and uncovering truths and stories within stories myself, I found it very beautiful and loved unravelling the complexities within the story. This is much like the reality that there is never ONE story, things are inextricably linked in ways that are often not shown in books, yet I can see why some people would not enjoy this particular style of narrating.
Despite thoroughly enjoying the story and narrating, however, there were elements missing, the story didn't feel at times completely grounded and if you are not invested in it I am sure it would become difficult to follow at times. There also wasn't a clear cut storyline but rather multitudes of stories weaving around one another (which I enjoyed personally) and occasionally it felt as though the reader was waiting for a non-existent climax. This was particularly evident at the end, I did not feel that the story's ending let down the book a bit, it didn't feel as important as it should have in my mind.
Overall, I know some people will love this book and some will not, it all depends on the reader.
I loved The Book Thief and Zusak's fascinating forms of narrating combined with his rather touching story and characters are evident within this novel. The characters have very real elements, they are not flawless and perfect but are people (however, there are some elements of their characters that are unreliable to certain groups of people e.g. I am female and am not close enough in age with my siblings to experience many of the pleasantries within the story). Also as the story is Australian based and elements of its landscape are often very evident, I find it quite refreshing as an Australian reader.
I particularly enjoyed the interesting layout of this book, being very fond of multiple timelines and uncovering truths and stories within stories myself, I found it very beautiful and loved unravelling the complexities within the story. This is much like the reality that there is never ONE story, things are inextricably linked in ways that are often not shown in books, yet I can see why some people would not enjoy this particular style of narrating.
Despite thoroughly enjoying the story and narrating, however, there were elements missing, the story didn't feel at times completely grounded and if you are not invested in it I am sure it would become difficult to follow at times. There also wasn't a clear cut storyline but rather multitudes of stories weaving around one another (which I enjoyed personally) and occasionally it felt as though the reader was waiting for a non-existent climax. This was particularly evident at the end, I did not feel that the story's ending let down the book a bit, it didn't feel as important as it should have in my mind.
Overall, I know some people will love this book and some will not, it all depends on the reader.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
So winding and multi faceted buy bloody hell I loved it 🥲
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me a chapter or two to get into the rhythm, of the storytelling style and the accent. But after that, I was all in. So beautiful, so fantastic.