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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
The Sunlight Pilgrims by Jenni Fagan came to me through a Goodreads Giveaway. Someone I follow on Goodreads recommended it, so I entered the giveaway, but by the time the book came I wasn't sure how excited I was to read it. I wasn't sure I was up for a futuristic, apocalyptic tale, but I was so wrong! The year is 2020 and the Earth is on the verge of a new ice age, enter the survivalist Constance, her trans daughter Stella and their new neighbor Dylan. Between the internal struggles of all three and the terrifying, freezing weather this book could have been incredibly dark and depressing. Instead it had this incredible spirit, at times beautiful (both the relationships and imagery), heart-wrenching, funny and with a healthy dose of swearing that I am all for. These characters were the embodiment of sunlight pilgrims. I really loved it and am so grateful I won it because I don't think I would have ended up reading it otherwise. And, I am looking forward to reading Fagan's first book The Panopticon.
So this was book #2 on the bedside table when I visited my BFF in CT. We frequently have very different taste in books (though we both hated the singing crawdads book about which no more will be spoken), so I am always on alert when she says, "I have a book for you to read." She does dark and sad muuuuuuuuuch more readily than I do. Add in "world enmeshed in environmental catastrophe," and I get cautious.
HOWEVER, I was completely absorbed and engaged by Jenni Fagan's The Sunlight Pilgrims. It's set in northern England in 2020, in a world that is plunging into endless winter caused by the meltwater from the polar ice caps. There are details that might bother a science-obsessed reader (how does this world continue to power itself? How does the internet keep working? Where IS the food coming from?), but those only occurred to me as after thoughts and not as deal breakers. The main characters are quirky, unusual, and very iceberg-y, with a lot of their motivations and histories hidden but, in many cases, slowly emerging over the course of the plot. And, most remarkably, even though it's a story about, essentially, the end of the world, the inevitable loss of our older family members, and how human beings treat people who are different from the norm (whether in the way they make their livings, their relationships, or their gender identities), the book is not a downer--it's beautifully written and pierced by a sense of unity, love, and even optimism.
I will say that the ending is the most inconclusive one I've read (and loved) since Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, so get yourself ready for that!
Also: I will not quickly forget how powerful it was to read this book about eternal winter while I was riding a train along the New England coast during a(nother) record-setting heat wave.
The Sunlight Pilgrims reminds me of Emily Mantel's Station Eleven--another end-of-the-world novel I never thought I'd love, and "Mr. Burns's Post-Electric Play". Hugely recommended.
HOWEVER, I was completely absorbed and engaged by Jenni Fagan's The Sunlight Pilgrims. It's set in northern England in 2020, in a world that is plunging into endless winter caused by the meltwater from the polar ice caps. There are details that might bother a science-obsessed reader (how does this world continue to power itself? How does the internet keep working? Where IS the food coming from?), but those only occurred to me as after thoughts and not as deal breakers. The main characters are quirky, unusual, and very iceberg-y, with a lot of their motivations and histories hidden but, in many cases, slowly emerging over the course of the plot. And, most remarkably, even though it's a story about, essentially, the end of the world, the inevitable loss of our older family members, and how human beings treat people who are different from the norm (whether in the way they make their livings, their relationships, or their gender identities), the book is not a downer--it's beautifully written and pierced by a sense of unity, love, and even optimism.
I will say that the ending is the most inconclusive one I've read (and loved) since Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, so get yourself ready for that!
Also: I will not quickly forget how powerful it was to read this book about eternal winter while I was riding a train along the New England coast during a(nother) record-setting heat wave.
The Sunlight Pilgrims reminds me of Emily Mantel's Station Eleven--another end-of-the-world novel I never thought I'd love, and "Mr. Burns's Post-Electric Play". Hugely recommended.
DNF @ 18%
Terrible, meandering writing with awkward and stilted dialogue. Such a shame as this has been high on my "to read" list for ages.
Terrible, meandering writing with awkward and stilted dialogue. Such a shame as this has been high on my "to read" list for ages.
dark
sad
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:
No
I dislike books were the romance happens in the first instance of the characters meeting. I don't like books that have surprise incest, I mean what purpose did it serve, I was skipping a fair bit of pages when I got to that section so I'm not even sure if Dylan told Alistar and Stella that they were all related.
The way the characters thought and spoke was unrealistic, especially when they were thinking about other characters.
I don't like books that are marketed as dystopian or apocalyptic and have it on the back burner. The impending ice age was such an insignificant part of the storyline that it might not have been included at all. The only thing that it did was force them all to Alistar's cottage, other than that it didn't move the plot forward one bit.
Constance having 2 boyfriends for 20 years was a plot point because?
Why was the dialogue formatted that way?
What character development were we to see in this novel? Stella was not likeable or understandable. It was interesting to see a transgender teenager but she could have been written sooo much better than she was. And why was Constance unconcerned about her chatting with someone in Italy? Is stranger danger and internet safety a thing of the past?
Even Dylan's reasoning behind putting the ashes of his mother and grandmother in tupperware and ice cream containers made no sense. He could have gotten another bag to carry them? He got angry at Stella for tossing them in the backyard but he was making no moves to take them back to Gunn's home isle. Again, why was incest even mentioned in this novel?
This book had amazing detail about things that were not in the least bit interesting. The story jumped around with no warning, I had to reread sections at a time because I wasn't sure of what was happening. I'm not sure how this novel got some many rave reviews.
The way the characters thought and spoke was unrealistic, especially when they were thinking about other characters.
I don't like books that are marketed as dystopian or apocalyptic and have it on the back burner. The impending ice age was such an insignificant part of the storyline that it might not have been included at all. The only thing that it did was force them all to Alistar's cottage, other than that it didn't move the plot forward one bit.
Constance having 2 boyfriends for 20 years was a plot point because?
Why was the dialogue formatted that way?
What character development were we to see in this novel? Stella was not likeable or understandable. It was interesting to see a transgender teenager but she could have been written sooo much better than she was. And why was Constance unconcerned about her chatting with someone in Italy? Is stranger danger and internet safety a thing of the past?
Even Dylan's reasoning behind putting the ashes of his mother and grandmother in tupperware and ice cream containers made no sense. He could have gotten another bag to carry them? He got angry at Stella for tossing them in the backyard but he was making no moves to take them back to Gunn's home isle. Again, why was incest even mentioned in this novel?
This book had amazing detail about things that were not in the least bit interesting. The story jumped around with no warning, I had to reread sections at a time because I wasn't sure of what was happening. I'm not sure how this novel got some many rave reviews.
These characters are marvelous. Although the backdrop is apocalyptic, Stella is still an angsty teen [with good reason] and Constance is still the woman with two lovers, eyed with suspicion by much of the community. The book is almost more a series of observations that all fit together perfectly, than a single coherent volume.
Just did not enjoy the story or the writing at all, felt bad ya
I expected a book about an environmental catastrophe, but this is actually a sweet character-driven family story set against a backdrop of environmental catastrophe. Gentle & tender, and also dark, with loads of atmosphere and plenty of unexpected, sparkly grace-note moments sprinkled in.
dark
emotional
medium-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
Really enjoyed this. Likeable characters and a good blend of modern and mythology.