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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
slow-paced
challenging
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Please read other reviews for a balanced veiw.
She is one of the best writers, and the story was thoughtful and imaginative but after a while l lost track and got bored.
It's worth trying to make up your own mind.
She is one of the best writers, and the story was thoughtful and imaginative but after a while l lost track and got bored.
It's worth trying to make up your own mind.
The thing I liked least about this book was probably the most impressive part of it. Whenever I read stories that borrow from fairy tales at all, they seem to automatically import some of that fairy tale feel as well: the timeless quality. This boo, while borrowing various fairy tale motifs, and deliberately playing with time and space in the story, has managed not to catch that. Instead it feels ultra-modern. That caught me by surprise.
I liked the characters of the story. They had a slight unreal (or perhaps hyper real) feel that a lot of literary fiction lends to it's characters, which can feel distant and put me off, but which in this instance worked well. I found myself rooting for the people in the story, even as the book was making me aware that they were people in a story.
I liked the characters of the story. They had a slight unreal (or perhaps hyper real) feel that a lot of literary fiction lends to it's characters, which can feel distant and put me off, but which in this instance worked well. I found myself rooting for the people in the story, even as the book was making me aware that they were people in a story.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A poetic fairytale story of young women in the world and magical gingerbread
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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:
Complicated
Reading a Helen Oyeyemi book is a little more like reading poetry than the way I normally read novels. I usually want internal consistency, a clear understanding of the rules behind what's going on. Oyeyemi's writing is more dreamlike, shifting between scenes and times and places without a lot of warning or signposts. But the emotional tone is very carefully crafted, and the underlying emotional logic is more important than questions like, if Druhastrana is really a physical place how is it possible it's not on maps (Google Earth?) Can anyone besides Harriet hear the talking dolls? What is going on with the Kerchevals' house? Questions whose ambiguity would bother me in a different sort of book are completely irrelevant to this one.
The writing style is very much typical Oyeyemi, beautiful and dense and experimental. But while plenty of dark things happen in this book, it feels less bleak than her others that I've read. Maybe the centrality of Gretel as a force for change in Harriet's life is what makes the difference, as most of her previous works focused on fundamentally much darker themes.
The writing style is very much typical Oyeyemi, beautiful and dense and experimental. But while plenty of dark things happen in this book, it feels less bleak than her others that I've read. Maybe the centrality of Gretel as a force for change in Harriet's life is what makes the difference, as most of her previous works focused on fundamentally much darker themes.
I love Hansel and Gretel and retold fairytales, so I was intrigued by this book. The cover is absolutely beautiful and stunning. I read some reviewers below say that the writing was confusing etc. but I like stream of consciousness type style so that didn't bother me. The writing does jump around a lot but that just adds to it's dream like style. I loved Helen's take on this and I cannot wait to read her other books.