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This was a great story told well and I kind of want to pick it straight back up again to reread it.
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Deportation
I went into this book blind, not really knowing what it was about, other than it followed a family through multiple generations, and I think that was the best way to approach this book; with few to no expectations.
At the heart of the story is a baby that is found in the woods, but the baby and its finder are being hunted down for the purposes of a cover up. What follows is an adventurous chase, multi-generational trauma, human flaws & struggles, addiction, love and so much more. Ultimately, it's a very human story with imperfect characters with their own struggles/motives.
When I started this book, it felt like it was going to be a book that forcefully makes you look at how terrible humans are because we're destroying the earth, and I'm someone who's all for saving and caring for the earth and nature, and getting that message across, yet I didn't want or need this message forced upon me. Thankfully this vibe didn't continue as heavily throughout the book.
I found the first 100 pages or so quite slow, and I felt like I was being hounded by too many characters at once, but it gradually caught my interest the deeper into the story I got and I'm glad I stuck with it. So if you're reading this or thinking about it, be mindful that it's more of a slow/medium pace book and that you might have to stick it out to get truly captured by it.
This is the first book I've read from Christie and I have to say, he writes beautifully. I found myself able to fully envisage what was happening, the scenes, the facial expressions; some sentences/quotes were really beautiful and poignant. The time periods are laid out like the inner rings of a tree, starting and ending in 2034, and although there's a bit of bouncing around between characters, I was still able to follow the story pretty well. It was a bit mind boggling to keep track of whose child was whose but I managed it!
I found the ending a tad disappointing, though it was still a touching and thought provoking one.
To summarise, this book isn't a particularly <i>exciting</i> one, but it's a somewhat smooth ride through a thought-provoking multi-generational story that covers some deep topics told through imperfect characters.
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Minor: Cancer, Child death, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, War
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Colonisation
Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing
Minor: Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Alcohol, War
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, Rape, Suicide, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury