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heyheatherelise's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
leighreadsalot'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
mondovertigo's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death and Child death
bookswithmaddi's review against another edition
2.0
This is one of the most absolutely wildest books I've ever read. I genuinely cannot even provide a general synopsis of this book because I don't know what happened. I listened to it as an audiobook which could've been my mistake, but honestly I've never really had a hard time understanding audiobooks before so it seems like I'm probably not the problem here. I think one of the most shocking revelations that this book offered was when I realized five hours into reading it that one of the narrators was addressing a second person you, and that "you" was a camel. He was talking to a camel the whole time. I want to emphasize that this is not a spoiler it just took me five hours to figure it out because I did not want to believe I was listening to a grown man address a camel.
In addition the way that the two narrators come together at the end is supposed to be crazy and shocking and wild and I completely predicted it. Worse than that the way I predicted it was thinking to myself "what is the stupidest thing that could happen?" and that very thing happened.
I didn't have high hopes for this book as I was just reading it to fulfill a popsugar prompt but I do realize that I can't get the several hours I spent listening to this book back and that hurts a little bit.
I'm obviously not here to trash this book completely, if you enjoy it I can totally see why and I'm happy for you. But as someone who actively recommends people books I would recommend this to a very narrow group of people. If that's the author's intentions than I'm all for that, but usually it's not, especially with this kind of fiction. So if you're wondering if you should read this book think long and hard about how much you like descriptions of dry landscapes, if you want to read large portions of text dedicated to a camel, and if you want there to be too many characters who have too similar names that you can't keep up with. If you want all of those things then this is the perfect book for you.
In addition the way that the two narrators come together at the end is supposed to be crazy and shocking and wild and I completely predicted it. Worse than that the way I predicted it was thinking to myself "what is the stupidest thing that could happen?" and that very thing happened.
I didn't have high hopes for this book as I was just reading it to fulfill a popsugar prompt but I do realize that I can't get the several hours I spent listening to this book back and that hurts a little bit.
I'm obviously not here to trash this book completely, if you enjoy it I can totally see why and I'm happy for you. But as someone who actively recommends people books I would recommend this to a very narrow group of people. If that's the author's intentions than I'm all for that, but usually it's not, especially with this kind of fiction. So if you're wondering if you should read this book think long and hard about how much you like descriptions of dry landscapes, if you want to read large portions of text dedicated to a camel, and if you want there to be too many characters who have too similar names that you can't keep up with. If you want all of those things then this is the perfect book for you.
sara_shocks's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars, rounded down here
Beautiful descriptions of the vast, terrifying American West, and a compelling, entangled narrative I wanted to see through to the end. One of these days, I'll read it again and probably catch some of the foreshadowing and hints I missed on this initial read.
Beautiful descriptions of the vast, terrifying American West, and a compelling, entangled narrative I wanted to see through to the end. One of these days, I'll read it again and probably catch some of the foreshadowing and hints I missed on this initial read.
ben_r's review against another edition
4.0
A western of a different type. Obreht writes like the air coursing through the cottonwoods standing tall above an Arizona river.
jeannekilcullen's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed the Wild West vibes, vast scenery, and the premise of the Camel Corps. I feel like the fluid, abstract timeline plus heavy descriptions kept the characters and plot at an arms length. I really appreciate the depth of the character Nora. Obreht wrote beautiful relationships that I would have loved to feel more immersed in.