Reviews

North Woods by Daniel Mason

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ekenny13's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

caroline10025's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

4.5

bookwormjimmy's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

I'll start off by saying that I truly loved the ending of this book. It was haunting and magical and really helped (sorta) bookend a story about a location, a cabin, through each successive generation of lives. The cycle that never ends that I've loved in endings such as The Wire or the ending credits of the final Attack on Titan episode. This book truly captures that feel.

Where I struggled with this book were some of the chapters that failed to engage me. The book is told in various points of views and perspectives over time, some of which were very engaging and others felt like a stab at experimental writing. If I didn't know better, I would have thought this was a series of short stories written by various authors. Instead, Daniel Mason changes his style of writing for each chapter to capture a different tone. In some cases, it really worked for me. In others, not so much. The good thing was that when I just wasn't connecting with a story, I knew it would be over sooner or later.

While I wasn't thrilled with some of the chapters, the ones that did capture my attention, and that ending, would be five star reads for me.