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adventurous
challenging
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was hesitant to pick this book up after DNFing All the Light We Cannot See in 2020. But, it was my Book Club's pick and the premise seemed right up my alley so I gave it a chance. I'm glad I did! I enjoyed this book. It was the perfect blend of storytelling and intrigue with a little dash of a sci-fi element thrown in there. I was glued to this book and stayed up way too late several nights in a row to finish it as quickly as possible.
Reading other reviews, I am seeing that many criticisms about the book center on the lengthy descriptions. This is something that bothers me as well, but I honestly did not notice it in this book. The descriptions were definitely more than was needed to simply set the scene, but it didn't overwhelm or irritate me. Each of the characters have such a connection to where they are that I felt we were just getting an idea of their feelings for their city, the nature, their space.
I also enjoyed the premise. I loved the weaving in of the fictional Cloud Cuckoo Land story and seeing more and more links between it and the characters. I loved the juxtaposition of the different time periods, including the two separate wars hundreds of years apart. It was a unique read for sure.
My criticisms lie in the amount of characters and the ending. There were so many characters that, despite the novel being over 600 pages, you spent only a short amount of time with each character. It was hard to truly feel connected to them and sometimes I would just be getting into a portion of the novel and boom end of chapter. The novel was also a slow burn, which is fine, but when the ending came, it came quickly. I was really craving more information and more of a resolution for one of the characters at the end (view spoiler). The book focused on climate change a bit and I was glad to see there was an accurate focus on it, especially after reading Migrations which felt very unrealistic.
Overall, highly recommend this book! May even be worth a shot if you are not usually a fan of the author.
Reading other reviews, I am seeing that many criticisms about the book center on the lengthy descriptions. This is something that bothers me as well, but I honestly did not notice it in this book. The descriptions were definitely more than was needed to simply set the scene, but it didn't overwhelm or irritate me. Each of the characters have such a connection to where they are that I felt we were just getting an idea of their feelings for their city, the nature, their space.
I also enjoyed the premise. I loved the weaving in of the fictional Cloud Cuckoo Land story and seeing more and more links between it and the characters. I loved the juxtaposition of the different time periods, including the two separate wars hundreds of years apart. It was a unique read for sure.
My criticisms lie in the amount of characters and the ending. There were so many characters that, despite the novel being over 600 pages, you spent only a short amount of time with each character. It was hard to truly feel connected to them and sometimes I would just be getting into a portion of the novel and boom end of chapter. The novel was also a slow burn, which is fine, but when the ending came, it came quickly. I was really craving more information and more of a resolution for one of the characters at the end (view spoiler). The book focused on climate change a bit and I was glad to see there was an accurate focus on it, especially after reading Migrations which felt very unrealistic.
Overall, highly recommend this book! May even be worth a shot if you are not usually a fan of the author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Death of parent, War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Rape, Religious bigotry
Minor: Torture, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Abandonment
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I read this book for the StoryGraph genre challenge, which I love. This is the ONLY book StoryGraph gave me that matched all of my most commonly read features - probably because I read quite a variety and so my common features are a bit random. The beginning was rough for me, that is all that keeps this from being five stars - books that have multiple different storylines are intimidating to me. However, I ended up treating it like a series of short stories, so I was shocked when I got to the end and was GENUINELY, DEEPLY invested in how the stories came together. It was a beautiful love story to the power of books & libraries & stories, all of my favorite things in a book!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Vomit
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War
adventurous
emotional
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Colonisation
Moderate: Gun violence, Slavery, Suicide, Death of parent
Minor: Child death
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, War
Moderate: Homophobia, Cultural appropriation
Minor: Rape
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
This is a book that is hard to classify. Is it literary fiction? Historical fiction? Science fiction? All three? Regardless of what you call it, the characters are richly written, and the three stories are each compelling in their own right. This is a 600 page book that, at times, reads like a thriller. About two-thirds of the way through, I learned something that made me want to cry. And at the end, I found myself wanting to hug this book and read it again. The central theme is so brilliantly summed up by this line: “The world as it is is enough.” This is probably the easiest five-star review I’ve given all year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Colonisation, War
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Usually I find the descriptors “genre-bending” & “ambitious” entirely annoying, but both are truly apt for this epic saga across time and space, spanning from 1400s Constantinople to decades from now aboard a spaceship headed to a new planet after we’ve thoroughly wrecked this one. A collection of protagonists propel the narrative with a translated Ancient Greek story serving as the connective tissue between each.
Author Anthony Doerr is immensely creative, and I was surprised at how well he gathered the threads of each story in a way that felt thoughtful without being overt. Each storyline has complicated human characters and well-developed sense of place. Admittedly, the beginning felt a little disorienting, jumping between an impressive number of characters in such a way that was initially hard to track. But if you stick with it, the convergence is worth it. More than once, I exclaimed out loud as a new revelation unfurled.
Cloud Cuckoo Land dances between themes of fragility & resilience, hope & despair, bravery & fear. One endorsement mentioned the term “stewardship,” and that really struck a chord once I finished the book. Each character has something they are cupping tenderly like a fallen bird, trying to usher it through a complex and crumbling world.
My main critique of this book is the handling of the neuro-diverse character.While Seymour is never explicitly called autistic, he is coded as such. All of his concerns about the environment are entirely valid and the manipulation he experiences which leads him to the villain role is handled insensitively & even somewhat harmfully. I wish that Doerr had been more thoughtful here.
Author Anthony Doerr is immensely creative, and I was surprised at how well he gathered the threads of each story in a way that felt thoughtful without being overt. Each storyline has complicated human characters and well-developed sense of place. Admittedly, the beginning felt a little disorienting, jumping between an impressive number of characters in such a way that was initially hard to track. But if you stick with it, the convergence is worth it. More than once, I exclaimed out loud as a new revelation unfurled.
Cloud Cuckoo Land dances between themes of fragility & resilience, hope & despair, bravery & fear. One endorsement mentioned the term “stewardship,” and that really struck a chord once I finished the book. Each character has something they are cupping tenderly like a fallen bird, trying to usher it through a complex and crumbling world.
My main critique of this book is the handling of the neuro-diverse character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, War
Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, Excrement, Dementia, Pregnancy
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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
This book is so much different than Doerr’s first.
I love the way the narratives intertwined
Zeno’s story was by far my favourite
Comp to cloud atlas in feel. Also aspects of station eleven
I feel I need to think about this book more
I love the way the narratives intertwined
Zeno’s story was by far my favourite
Comp to cloud atlas in feel. Also aspects of station eleven
I feel I need to think about this book more
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Minor: Dementia