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mmccombs's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
An absolutely harrowing portrait of war and trauma and loss with an interesting twist. For some reason this is the year of WW1 content for me, I started the year with In Memoriam and the recent movie adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front. Both do a good job of showcasing the horrors of the War, but this book stretched that even further into a blend of horror and fantasy that was very compelling. The message of this book was perhaps a bit on the nose, but the sheer apocalyptic vibes to it felt very visceral and made it hard for me to put this book down.
For me, the characters lacked a bit of depth, but I didn’t totally mind because everything else felt so lush. I also feel like the middle was a bit meandering and bloated, the author notes in her acknowledgments that this book was difficult to write, and in some ways it was difficult to read. There are lots of moving parts to this one (realistic depictions of war, the fantastical elements of Faland and his hotel, and the horror of ghosts and surrealism), which sometimes didn’t feel like the gelled together. But in the end, I thought this was a wholly unique and haunting depiction of a time period that continues to feel all the more relevant to our current moment in time.
For me, the characters lacked a bit of depth, but I didn’t totally mind because everything else felt so lush. I also feel like the middle was a bit meandering and bloated, the author notes in her acknowledgments that this book was difficult to write, and in some ways it was difficult to read. There are lots of moving parts to this one (realistic depictions of war, the fantastical elements of Faland and his hotel, and the horror of ghosts and surrealism), which sometimes didn’t feel like the gelled together. But in the end, I thought this was a wholly unique and haunting depiction of a time period that continues to feel all the more relevant to our current moment in time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Confinement, War, Grief, Medical content, Gore, Mental illness, and Blood
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
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