Scan barcode
chuckyinspace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Incest, Child abuse, Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Sexism, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Suicide, Animal death, Blood, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Excrement, Confinement, Body horror, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, Medical content, and Infertility
bababookmatt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
ktaroo939's review
5.0
Fantastic book! Like a cross between The Handmaids Tale and the movie The Village. Horrifying and heartbreaking but full of strong and powerful characters. It’s a book that will stay with me.
teaandbooksnuggery's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Incest, Child abuse, and Pedophilia
lawryn's review against another edition
4.0
rae_swabey's review against another edition
5.0
It is, however, a powerful piece of writing, hugely compelling and affecting. A reviewer quoted on the cover describes it as ‘Handmaid’s Tale meets Lord of the Flies’ and that seems pretty on-the-money to me.
Gather the Daughters is set on an island, a couple of generations after some kind of apocalyptic event. The children grow up fast before being married off as teens, but every summer they’re set free on the island to run feral, covering themselves with mud to ward off mosquitoes, fighting and generally running amok.
The writing is gorgeous and by telling the story from the perspective of various girls on the island, Melamed creates an effect that’s both polyphonic and specific - it is very much the ‘daughters’’ point of view we get here, so, while the different narrators have their own individual takes, they are all subject to the similar forces of the highly prescribed role of their age and sex in this strange yet hauntingly familiar society.
It is that tension between familiarity and strangeness that makes this such a disturbing read. And there are other contradictions here too. This is a story that seems at the same time simple and complex. It is pacy and easy to read, but speaks to so many themes - loss of innocence, patriarchy, community, freedom, leadership, religion and belief, and what it means to live a fulfilling life - that it stayed with me long after I’d put it down. It has an allegorical quality that makes it seem timeless, but also seemed to me to speak to many contemporary concerns.
Thoroughly recommend this book, trigger warnings notwithstanding. An amazing story that had me absolutely gripped.
laurajaylive's review against another edition
5.0
jgrady93's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Child death
paguroidea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Incest
jarofbees's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0