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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
A story about grief, struggling with addiction, the power of spiritual ancestry and family. Hard to read through some parts, but beautifully written.
Family trauma and tragedy, backed by mesmerizing folklore and sobering forgiveness.
"I'm building a monster," Edgar told him excitedly. He held up his Lego creature and roared.
"Little brother," Ray-Ray said, "there are enough monsters in this world."
This was definitely an odd one. It's a story about a family struggling to live with the lost of a beloved family member. Told from 3 alternating POV - mother, sister and brother. There is also another POV, a sort of folklore narrator that is telling you stories intermixed between the other chapters. Each family member's story is odd. They have taken wide turns in their lives since Ray-Ray was murdered and, this year in particular, they seem to be struggling.
But I found the sister's POV to be very list like - first she did this then this. I read a few paragraphs where it detailed what she ate, where she sat, a game she played then went for a smoke. The mother's POV was a little easier - she's taken in a foster child, Wyatt and sees a lot of similarities to her son, Ray-Ray.
The brother, by far, was the oddest of the chapters. He seems stuck in a town after following a stranger there. The chapters are slow with little detail until pretty late to really tell you what's going on. Instead it's almost in a drug or sleep-deprived haze and very little of it seems to make sense.
I wish I'd connected better with this story but I just found it disjointed and odd.
"Little brother," Ray-Ray said, "there are enough monsters in this world."
This was definitely an odd one. It's a story about a family struggling to live with the lost of a beloved family member. Told from 3 alternating POV - mother, sister and brother. There is also another POV, a sort of folklore narrator that is telling you stories intermixed between the other chapters. Each family member's story is odd. They have taken wide turns in their lives since Ray-Ray was murdered and, this year in particular, they seem to be struggling.
But I found the sister's POV to be very list like - first she did this then this. I read a few paragraphs where it detailed what she ate, where she sat, a game she played then went for a smoke. The mother's POV was a little easier - she's taken in a foster child, Wyatt and sees a lot of similarities to her son, Ray-Ray.
The brother, by far, was the oddest of the chapters. He seems stuck in a town after following a stranger there. The chapters are slow with little detail until pretty late to really tell you what's going on. Instead it's almost in a drug or sleep-deprived haze and very little of it seems to make sense.
I wish I'd connected better with this story but I just found it disjointed and odd.
3.5⭐️
I was wondering where this was going but I liked where it ended up. The remaining Echota family members were all looking for some sort of closure and I felt so happy for Ernest seeing so much of Ray-Ray in Wyatt. I found Sonja to be so troubling and problematic but came around to her in the end.
I was wondering where this was going but I liked where it ended up. The remaining Echota family members were all looking for some sort of closure and I felt so happy for Ernest seeing so much of Ray-Ray in Wyatt. I found Sonja to be so troubling and problematic but came around to her in the end.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Lovely but tragic
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-paced