Reviews

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

alyssafraley's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.0

nancyhxo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

erinthompson11's review against another edition

4.0

Kingsolver does an excellent job of including the reader in the story. You truly feel like you connect with some of the characters and the constant changing viewpoints keeps in interesting. I often find that these are my favorite types of novels. I also appreciated this novel because of the historical fiction component. I was unaware of what was happening in the Congo at this time and this novel challenged me to learn more. I recommend this book to anyone who has a lot of time to indulge themselves in a great read.

rhiannonflint's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

akeesee's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.25

riroreads's review against another edition

3.5

This was both a good book, and a real slog to get through. Sometimes I really liked it, the different perspectives of the Price women, Rachel sucks, but I really hate-enjoyed reading her adult perspective. Ruth May cracked me up. And I like the way the other three, combined with the others, made a really unique, full picture of how different people perceive the world and events. 
On the other hand, I was often very bored, falling asleep and/or thinking about what could have been edited out.

buttercupita's review against another edition

4.0

Wish I could give it a 4.5....So well told (really enjoyed the multiple narrators) and thought provoking. It was particularly interesting to me to read a Western female take on colonialism in Africa after having taught Things Fall Apart to many classes of 10th grade World History students. Would definitely want to inject this into my curriculum if I were to go back.

godofbigfoots's review against another edition

3.0

Most of this book is pretty good. It's the ending that ruins it for me. Three-quarters of the story has interesting characters, a driving plot, a definite arc for everyone. I liked reading it.

And then the last quarter of the book is a meandering, self-indulgent epilogue. Sure, I like knowing what happened to the characters after the conclusion of the most intriguing part of the plot sometimes, but this is too long, too rambling, too pointless. By the end of it I didn't care about the characters, didn't want to hear their voices anymore, and honestly didn't even LIKE them. I almost stopped reading several times just pages from the end because I was SO. BORED. Learn when the story is over, then stop.

ashleyulm's review against another edition

adventurous informative sad medium-paced

_joy_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75