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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I don’t normally make reviews (as I just give a general rating and keep it moving), but I suppose with this book it’s almost disappointing that I can only rate it a 3?
There’s just to many things going against me wanting to care about the characters, the non-linear story telling done in a way that’s not satisfying or could be parsed to follow, etc.
My biggest disappointments:
There’s just to many things going against me wanting to care about the characters, the non-linear story telling done in a way that’s not satisfying or could be parsed to follow, etc.
My biggest disappointments:
- The lack of a real “journey” with the two sisters, genuinely I would’ve loved if it just STAYED in that part of the story, and have us readers follow them through the harsh western frontier of the desert. Cause after the first part, the whole journey with the sisters the book bigs itself on doesn’t really exist. Especially with the other element of them being Asian/American, I would’ve loved for that to go all into that aspect of the two!
- The LGBTQ+ elements not nearly being explored enough, Sam was really the only character I had some connection with since I myself is a women who often yearns to be masculine, but nothing was much done with that aspect of the story.
- The manner of which this non-linear storytelling is being done, I read so many stories that got it down right (like “How to Lose the Time War for instance); the story still being able to be followed with little issues. But here it was quite hard to picture things cause of the rapid and unsatisfying perspective and placement/setting shifting that would happen mid sentence of something being said.
Everything needed more time and development. I know this is the authors first debate novel, and I do really hope that these same issues aren’t prevalent in her other later works, if so I can’t say that I would check them out if that’s the case sadly.😕
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
sad
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:
Complicated
.5 for hella gay. Beautifully and at times in uncomfortably descriptive in the best way possible. Not a huge fan of the nonlinear story progression and perspective shifts (with a few exceptions) but that’s a personal thing
There’s gold in them/their hills, Sam! (Or he/him, whatever)
This feels more like a book I should physically read instead of listen to
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
solid 3 star read, slow start but interesting towards the middle/end then slow again
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Imagine, if you will, Grave of the Fireflies set in the American West during the post-colonization/gold rush years, crossed with something like Ken Liu's "All the Flavours" (from The Paper Menagerie). I should note I've never read Grave of the Fireflies so maybe it's a bad comparison. And then it becomes Beloved.
Ultimately, I think my reticence to this book—even though it's really good—is a certain level of like, nonetheless American inescapability. Not really this book's fault, just a response that I'm not quite sure what to make of, but I think situating this alongside "Who's Afraid of Spatchcocked Chicken" makes it make a little more sense.
Ultimately, I think my reticence to this book—even though it's really good—is a certain level of like, nonetheless American inescapability. Not really this book's fault, just a response that I'm not quite sure what to make of, but I think situating this alongside "Who's Afraid of Spatchcocked Chicken" makes it make a little more sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Not my favorite writing style. I also did not care for any of the characters which made it difficult to be interested in the plot.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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