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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
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:
No
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Gorgeous -- starts strong and doesn't let up. The backstory is smartly presented up front where we need it, and the future is neatly tucked in at the end to ensure we can sleep at night. The body of the story occurs over 24 hours that remind us how vulnerable we are, how resilient, how good and bad, and yes, redemption. Patchett writes about family on a grand scale -- humanity -- and about politics on an intimate scale -- relationships. This is my favourite of hers so far.
The book jacket skewed my expectations. By stating the action all takes place in 24 hours, I assumed this would be fast-paced, with more hard-hitting examination of the racial issues at hand. Instead this is 24 hours of a lot of waiting and flashbacks. The racial issues are dealt with lightly and incidentally, but there's no deep examination. The characters are less interesting than they should have been, given their family dynamic.
An oddly pedestrian story about families whose lives interact in slowly surprising ways. Tragedy is present, but as an undercurrent and backstory, not in-your-face. Mild conflict is everywhere, but dramatic action is always just out of sight.
Slow, readable, unsatisfying.
An oddly pedestrian story about
Spoiler
threeSlow, readable, unsatisfying.
I enjoyed this book. I found it interesting and engaging and it didn't irritate me. The end I found rather abrupt however.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
I found this easy to read and really liked most of the characters however I was waiting for the patchett twist at the end which never came
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Certain things existed out of time. It was ten years ago, it was this morning. In that way the accident was like his mother's death. It did not recede so much as hover, waxing and waning at different intervals but always there. It happened in the past and it was always happening. It happened every single minute of the day.
I'm a little surprised by how low the average rating for this is because I enjoyed it! The book centres Kenya, a Black girl who lives in subsidised housing with a single mother. Ann Patchett is white and middle-class, so I did suspend my disbelief before starting the book, and I think that helped with my rating. Race and class are definitely themes of the book, but they're not the focal points as much as family, grief, and memory. The characters surrounding Kenya are also central to the plot, but she holds them together. These characters are all well-meaning but clearly flawed, and I think the story illustrates these faults in a way that balances clarity and subtlety.
My main complaint is that the ending felt a little too convenient, but it did also make sense. I don't really want to write a full review for this book but I hope future me is okay with these thoughts alone. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't life-changing.
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
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