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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
3.5/5
Gah, almost a great book but not quite. I really enjoyed reading it for the most part, but the last third slightly fizzles out instead of really coming to a big climax. Still a good read
Gah, almost a great book but not quite. I really enjoyed reading it for the most part, but the last third slightly fizzles out instead of really coming to a big climax. Still a good read
You experience the ordinary and the extraordinary with this group of teenagers in ‘80s San Francisco.
I liked it a lot overall although have to note that the emotional tone of the novel (or the protagonist?) is a bit odd and flat considering some of the plot points. Minor spoiler: For example, one of the fathers commits suicide in the house while the girls are present, and the main character barely seems to register it. At other times, the reader more expressly feels her emotion (such as in a humiliating moment with a boy).
I liked it a lot overall although have to note that the emotional tone of the novel (or the protagonist?) is a bit odd and flat considering some of the plot points. Minor spoiler: For example, one of the fathers commits suicide in the house while the girls are present, and the main character barely seems to register it. At other times, the reader more expressly feels her emotion (such as in a humiliating moment with a boy).
I really enjoyed this book. From the vivid scenes of San Francisco to the kickass protagonist, I was hooked immediately. I loved Eulabee, our hero (sort of?), for her prickliness and refusal to bend to the will of the Heathers (sorry, old reference!) she was friends with, and also her general relatable weirdness. She's not like any young girl I've followed through a novel before and I was rooting for her on every page. Throw in some interesting plot points and I was entertained for hundreds of pages. In summary, it's just a fun read.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I find this to be a funny, sad and vivid book with flawed, fascinating characters. The narrator's voice was so easy to identify to me and I found the world essay to picture. If I were to make a comparison, it kind of reminded me of the films of Sofia Coppolla and the structure a little of Scarlett Thomas's books (though nothing like those plot wise). I loved it.
Finished it in a day. It was well written and I was hooked. I guess coming-of-age novels aren’t really for me; I just felt like there was no real ending. I wasn’t satisfied.
There is a kind of trope in literature and cinema, whereby the narrator provides an account of the impact a central character has on others in their shared environment. Then there is a kind of fast-forward to point much later in their lives where the narrator and said character run into each other unexpectedly. There is likely an awkward moment. There is likely a conversation in which the two can catch up. There is likely an observation from the narrator about how the central character has changed, or hasn't changed, and poignancy ensues.
These elements are particularly well done in We Run the Tides, and the underlying "coming of age" narrative is compelling.
Highly recommended.
These elements are particularly well done in We Run the Tides, and the underlying "coming of age" narrative is compelling.
Highly recommended.
(audiobook)
This was a perfect audiobook. I don’t know if I’d have liked it as much just reading it because Marin Ireland is the best, but I’ll probably still end up buying a hard copy because I loved it so much.
This was a hilarious and heartbreaking story about being a teenage girl and all of the horrors and embarrassments and utter chaos that entails. Eulabee is so weird and sad and funny and awkward and utterly relatable. I love her. I think I WAS her, but in a trashy suburb of Milwaukee and not a snazzy San Francisco neighborhood.
One nitpick: I am entirely unclear on why this is being blurbed as “both a gripping mystery and a tribute to the wonders of youth, in all its beauty and confusion” — 100% yes to the confusion of youth and whatnot, but this is NOT a mystery - like, 0% a mystery - and it doesn’t need to be.
Anyway. This book is goddamn marvelous and everyone should read it.
This was a perfect audiobook. I don’t know if I’d have liked it as much just reading it because Marin Ireland is the best, but I’ll probably still end up buying a hard copy because I loved it so much.
This was a hilarious and heartbreaking story about being a teenage girl and all of the horrors and embarrassments and utter chaos that entails. Eulabee is so weird and sad and funny and awkward and utterly relatable. I love her. I think I WAS her, but in a trashy suburb of Milwaukee and not a snazzy San Francisco neighborhood.
One nitpick: I am entirely unclear on why this is being blurbed as “both a gripping mystery and a tribute to the wonders of youth, in all its beauty and confusion” — 100% yes to the confusion of youth and whatnot, but this is NOT a mystery - like, 0% a mystery - and it doesn’t need to be.
Anyway. This book is goddamn marvelous and everyone should read it.
"We Run the Tides," set in a wealthy San Francisco neighborhood in the 1980s, centers on a clique of young teenagers at an all-girls school. Eulabee and her friends are coming of age and experiencing all of the curiosity about the world that goes along with that phase of life. They are sheltered in certain ways and poorly supervised in others. As Eulabee and her BFF Maria Fabiola navigate these waters — literally, as the book's title suggests, and metaphorically — they find themselves in a series of crises. But are they really in danger? The little details embedded in the novel are so finely crafted and evocative that you'll be able to smell the vintage shop where Eulabee shops on Haight Street and hear The Psychedelic Furs playing on her record player.