Reviews

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

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dmbast's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

anxiousartsyself's review

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3.0

This book is not what I expected. It was written in perspectives from different characters and some of them inter-lapped. I wasn’t a fan of some of the disconnect and holes it left in the stories. The book took place along a large period of time and I would have preferred it if I got more story of the characters I was first invested in. I felt as if the story was unfinished because of this. Don’t think I’ll be reading this one again but it wasn’t the worst book I’ve read. 3/5

trekkermom's review

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5.0

I cannot begin to say how much I was blown away reading the pages of this book.
It is as much a story about life as it is about death, as a contagion is unleashed upon the world, we see it not in a large scope but in individual stories of husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, children lost.
I had the privilege of seeing a book talk this evening, right in the middle of devouring the pages of this book, read in the space of 24 hours. Listening gave me a new insight into the pages.
As a fellow Star Trek fan, I looked for those words that I recognized, and the way this books is much similar to the journeys of that series, that in seeking out new life and civilizations, we realize how alike we all are, in our yearning for connections in this short, brief space in time we have.
I loved the way the book looked at grief, in all its myriad shapes, head on and fearless.
Something we too ofter shy away from acknowledging.
I felt so much richer from reading this story, I hope you will too.

amberacks12's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book is absolutely brilliant.
For most of it I just felt hooked. This future for our planet felt so insane but strangely possible. But then things got more speculative and I could sense an underlying theme to each of the vignettes.
I really liked trying to sense each connection from one story to the next, because while each chapter really could be read independent of the others, there are connections to be found. And then to get to the end and finally see the connective tissue laid bare was mind blowing.
Not only that, but Nagamatsu covers so many heavy themes with sensitivity and depth in such a short amount of pages. And while I didn’t always enjoy those themes, I felt that his writing was extremely well done. This is a very well written book.
Brilliant speculative fiction.

Enjoyment: 4
Emotional impact: 5
Educational value: 5
Writing style: 5
=4.75