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devynreadsnovels's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Cancer, Child death, Suicide, Death, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, and Terminal illness
briannad4's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Cancer, and Suicide
servemethesky's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Thanks to Tin House and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book was so enticing, with its intriguing title and beautiful cover. The premise sounded fascinating. I think to some extent I wasn't in the right mood for this book, but it also stumbled in its execution.
Bergman has created an extensive cast of characters whose lives are all intertwined. It's fun and engaging to try to figure out how everyone is connected as you go. However, you always feel a lot of distance from the characters, so I didn't feel any emotion even though the subject matter was heavy. It was confusing to jump to a new set of characters just as you had started to get your bearings with the previous set. Exhausting!
I anticipated this would be 3 or 4 stars throughout because I expected the ending would pull everything together beautifully and I'd be blown away. Sadly, that does not happen. It seemed like the book struggled to find a place to end, and just rambled on philosophically/vaguely until it stopped. While it's interesting to consider how pain and memory are intertwined aspects of our humanity, and how death comes for all of us, it felt like this book was trying very hard to be deep and it lost a lot of the emotion and punch as a result.
It may have just not been my cup of tea! I think folks would love this if they enjoy: philosophical books, novels with a large cast of characters whose lives are interwoven, and thought-provoking fiction.
This book was so enticing, with its intriguing title and beautiful cover. The premise sounded fascinating. I think to some extent I wasn't in the right mood for this book, but it also stumbled in its execution.
Bergman has created an extensive cast of characters whose lives are all intertwined. It's fun and engaging to try to figure out how everyone is connected as you go. However, you always feel a lot of distance from the characters, so I didn't feel any emotion even though the subject matter was heavy. It was confusing to jump to a new set of characters just as you had started to get your bearings with the previous set. Exhausting!
I anticipated this would be 3 or 4 stars throughout because I expected the ending would pull everything together beautifully and I'd be blown away. Sadly, that does not happen. It seemed like the book struggled to find a place to end, and just rambled on philosophically/vaguely until it stopped. While it's interesting to consider how pain and memory are intertwined aspects of our humanity, and how death comes for all of us, it felt like this book was trying very hard to be deep and it lost a lot of the emotion and punch as a result.
It may have just not been my cup of tea! I think folks would love this if they enjoy: philosophical books, novels with a large cast of characters whose lives are interwoven, and thought-provoking fiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use and Drug abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Abandonment, Cancer, Death of parent, and Child death
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