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danimcthomas's review
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Absolute perfection.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, and Child death
Heavy on climate change discussion and the outlook is bleak - avoid if that’s a trigger for youkatelbr's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death
nothingforpomegranted's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Exhausted by her marriage, her mother-in-law, and her maternal responsibilities and frustrated that she never made it out of the small Appalachian town where she grew up, Dellarobia Turnbow climbs a hill towards the back of the family farm seeking a spark, anticipating a passionate fling with the telephone man who never shows up. To her great surprise, Dellarobia encounters not only a spark, but a wondrous, near-biblical flame. The woods are covered in a mesmerizing, flickering blanket of orange that turns out to be nothing more or less than millions of monarch butterflies, redirected from their winter flight path by a tragic flood in the Central Mexican mountains.
Barbara Kingsolver writes with a tremendous amount of wonder and knowledge about nature and science, and this is a stunning exploration of changes in behavior. Several reviews mention that the lessons--about environmentalism, about science, about poverty, about rural livelihoods and urban social education--felt heavy-handed, but I thought they were presented, if not subtly, then powerfully and genuinely.
Dellarobia's relationships with her children, her mother-in-law, and the scientists who come to study the butterflies on her family's property are so raw. The tension among love, belonging, identity, and dreams is honest and complicated, and Dellarobia's underlying sense of frustration pervades the novel. Indeed, the only qualm I have about the book is that Dellarobia's backstory went untold. Despite the repeated references to her young orphanhood, her teenage pregnancy, and her quashed dreams of leaving Feathertown, I was left unsatisfied by her motivations and plans by the end of the book. Nevertheless, this slow, dramatic book was beautifully written (as Kingsolver always is), and I discovered an enthusiasm for monarch butterflies and their migration patterns that I never would have expected.
Barbara Kingsolver writes with a tremendous amount of wonder and knowledge about nature and science, and this is a stunning exploration of changes in behavior. Several reviews mention that the lessons--about environmentalism, about science, about poverty, about rural livelihoods and urban social education--felt heavy-handed, but I thought they were presented, if not subtly, then powerfully and genuinely.
Dellarobia's relationships with her children, her mother-in-law, and the scientists who come to study the butterflies on her family's property are so raw. The tension among love, belonging, identity, and dreams is honest and complicated, and Dellarobia's underlying sense of frustration pervades the novel. Indeed, the only qualm I have about the book is that Dellarobia's backstory went untold. Despite the repeated references to her young orphanhood, her teenage pregnancy, and her quashed dreams of leaving Feathertown, I was left unsatisfied by her motivations and plans by the end of the book. Nevertheless, this slow, dramatic book was beautifully written (as Kingsolver always is), and I discovered an enthusiasm for monarch butterflies and their migration patterns that I never would have expected.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Grief, Infidelity, and Miscarriage
Minor: Death of parent
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