Reviews

The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch

niknakpattywhack's review

4.0

I'm oscillating between 4 and 5 stars for this one. On the one hand the very concept of this novel and the quality of writing therein was fantastic, on the other the pacing felt so off to me that it took me much longer to read than something like this usually does. It's true that the writing and structure is a little more complex and might require more time, but thinking back I think it was mostly the pace of certain sections that slowed me down. This is not something you want to miss though, what it lacks in consistency it makes up for in pure emotion and vibrancy of the world created. The last 20ish pages will be weighing on my mind for a while.

sleepiebear's review

3.0

I liked this, but it was hard for me to love. I kept getting pulled out of the story by the indirectness of the sentences. also the Christine / Joan connection confused me.

holly_ed_'s review against another edition

2.0

I really wanted to enjoy this but I’ve abandoned it halfway through. I don’t think I know enough about the historical characters to understand the allusions and it’s all a bit bonkers and hard to wade through. Also, space makes my brain hurt. Not for me but undoubtedly some great turns of phrase.

artemiscat's review

4.0

Glorious f*cked endless dream logic of a novel. I’d happily read it again but it may also give me nightmares.

tensy's review against another edition

3.0

Lidia Yuknavitch writes in beautiful prose which belies the horrific setting of this post-apocalyptic Earth. I often found the transitions confusing and I would have preferred reading this in print. There are many themes explored in this novel, environmentalism, child soldiers, spirituality or the lack thereof, and most importantly, feminism in a world where genders are irrelevant after reproductive organs have disappeared. Sexuality and the abuse of women is graphically depicted in this novel and should be read with the prospect that some scenes will be truly unsettling. There is a lot of promise in this book, but bizarre plot elements and often overly gruesome passages outweigh the impressive writing.

Interesting review from a literature professor that delves more deeply into the book (LA Review of Books). Retrofuturist Feminism: Lidia Yuknavitch’s “The Book of Joan”

aleffert's review

4.0

Liking ambitious messes is on brand for me, and this is definitely an ambitious mess, but this is a little too on the mess side to make my favorites. At its best it's earnestly emotional, visceral and obsessed with viscera. But it veers too hard into SHOCKING and the characters never escape their roles as symbolic elements of a perfunctory plot.

To describe what actually happens would be beside the point, but if a gross bloody holy future joan of arc riff that doesn't quite work sounds your speed, maybe you should pick it up.

sakeriver's review

I thought this one was pretty good, although I’ve struggled a lot lately with post-apocalyptic and post-human SFF. It takes nothing away from a book like this to admit that I want more to be comforted by fiction than to be broadened by it. What I liked about this one was how joyfully profane it was, how much it reveled in the body. And I think it reached toward something divine, while rejecting divinity. The final chapter fragment was a little over my head, but I liked it all the same—it felt profound.

joanna27's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

a_r_e_l_i_c's review against another edition

5.0

11 charcoal-like
51 dirt & trees
52 needles, sap & bark
57 ocean
63 sweat, blood, cum & shit
92 meat on a grill {muscles}
93 coppery metallic component {blood}
__ burnt liver {internal organs}
__ musky, sweet perfume {cerebrospinal fluid}
__ sulfurous {burnt hair}
98 musk, hay & sweat
104 burnt blood & honey
117 dried & dead things
123 blood & spent bullets
139 dirt, water & skin
161 pulp
163 sage, moss & peat
175 scorched earth
193 lavender & sage
230 rot & pus
240 burn of electricity
243 pennies & putrefaction

affyfe's review

4.0

I read this book because of its review on the tournament of books without realizing I had previously read a book by this author. As soon as I started it I knew the writing sounded familiar and sure enough she also wrote on the small backs of children which I read last year. I wasn't quite ready for that level of depression and had I realized that I may have held off and read something else. But knowing what I was in for I powered on, and I'm happy I did. The book switches back from Joan on what is left of earth to Christine who lives on a space station of sorts. There were times I got confused about whose story it was since Christine tells Joan's story at times, but other times it switches fully to her. I was not a fan of the narrator, I understand the feel she was going for, but it was a bit too air-y and unworld-ly to connect with. I think this book would've been much better to read the physical copy.