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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
I have been trying to review this book and I am struggling. So I’m going to say first-off: I LOVED IT. Maybe I need to find a better word than “love”. Because it’s not pretty. There’s very little “pretty” here.
The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman is one of those books that dumps you in a world completely foreign to your own, and leaves you to figure it out as the story progresses. That is not to say there isn’t world-building (there is!), it just doesn’t make anything obvious.
I have never made quite so many annotations on my e-reader.
I don’t want to give anything away – even some smaller details take some reading to figure out, and I think that’s awesome.
One thing that takes a while to get used to is the language. Newman has essentially created a new dialect for her characters – I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a new language, but it is kind of a Pidgin English, although that’s not all too fair because it is not at all simplified. It reminds me a little of Valleysmen in Cloud Atlas. Eventually I really started enjoying this dialect, because it’s kind of similar to the way that I think, sometimes. Newman also REALLY displays her prowess when she brings other dialects into her story with other communities.
This book is LONG… I mean, not 1Q84 long, but 640 pages long. And it’s an epic, of war and disease and kinship. It took me a long time to finish it: it’s not the kind of book that should be rushed. It is also not at all predictable (at least, it wasn’t to me), which makes it an even wilder ride.
I would have love to read this in a class because there are a few parallels to modern world that could be discussed, especially in terms of religion, politics and war (although you could argue they are all the same). In many ways I was reminded of Lord of the Flies and The Handmaid’s Tale. Many parts of the story were gut-churning and decidedly not-pretty. Sometimes I wondered about the lack of moral fibre in these kids, and other times I marvelled at the structures they managed to build into their societies.
“You have to understand, it’s how we are here. It’s like we’re all asleep. We grow up, we fall asleep, and then the horrors that scared us before – we’re doing them. We’re the monsters in the nightmare.”
As for the main character, Ice Cream Star: I really enjoyed reading her – which is not to say I always liked her. Sometimes she annoyed the crap out of me. Sometimes I just wanted to hug her. Sometimes I felt like she didn’t really have full agency. But as a character she was wonderful. Her self-awareness and maturity change noticeably. It’s like you could see her prefrontal cortex developing.
"Then I remember ice cream been a food I never taste. I wonder what my mama dream to name me for this food, as if she name me Something Lost."
In terms of story-development, this is probably one of the most unique books I’ve read. The idea of a plague killing everyone at a certain age is not new, but the way in which Newman further develops that idea certainly is. What happens when a cure is not found? What happens when the plague becomes the norm? What happens when children become responsible for humanity’s continued existence?
The Country of Ice Cream Star happens. I couldn’t recommend this book more avidly. (Somebody please read it soon so that I can have long discussions about it without spoiling the story!)
I received an eARC of this book via the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman is one of those books that dumps you in a world completely foreign to your own, and leaves you to figure it out as the story progresses. That is not to say there isn’t world-building (there is!), it just doesn’t make anything obvious.
I have never made quite so many annotations on my e-reader.
I don’t want to give anything away – even some smaller details take some reading to figure out, and I think that’s awesome.
One thing that takes a while to get used to is the language. Newman has essentially created a new dialect for her characters – I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a new language, but it is kind of a Pidgin English, although that’s not all too fair because it is not at all simplified. It reminds me a little of Valleysmen in Cloud Atlas. Eventually I really started enjoying this dialect, because it’s kind of similar to the way that I think, sometimes. Newman also REALLY displays her prowess when she brings other dialects into her story with other communities.
This book is LONG… I mean, not 1Q84 long, but 640 pages long. And it’s an epic, of war and disease and kinship. It took me a long time to finish it: it’s not the kind of book that should be rushed. It is also not at all predictable (at least, it wasn’t to me), which makes it an even wilder ride.
I would have love to read this in a class because there are a few parallels to modern world that could be discussed, especially in terms of religion, politics and war (although you could argue they are all the same). In many ways I was reminded of Lord of the Flies and The Handmaid’s Tale. Many parts of the story were gut-churning and decidedly not-pretty. Sometimes I wondered about the lack of moral fibre in these kids, and other times I marvelled at the structures they managed to build into their societies.
“You have to understand, it’s how we are here. It’s like we’re all asleep. We grow up, we fall asleep, and then the horrors that scared us before – we’re doing them. We’re the monsters in the nightmare.”
As for the main character, Ice Cream Star: I really enjoyed reading her – which is not to say I always liked her. Sometimes she annoyed the crap out of me. Sometimes I just wanted to hug her. Sometimes I felt like she didn’t really have full agency. But as a character she was wonderful. Her self-awareness and maturity change noticeably. It’s like you could see her prefrontal cortex developing.
"Then I remember ice cream been a food I never taste. I wonder what my mama dream to name me for this food, as if she name me Something Lost."
In terms of story-development, this is probably one of the most unique books I’ve read. The idea of a plague killing everyone at a certain age is not new, but the way in which Newman further develops that idea certainly is. What happens when a cure is not found? What happens when the plague becomes the norm? What happens when children become responsible for humanity’s continued existence?
The Country of Ice Cream Star happens. I couldn’t recommend this book more avidly. (Somebody please read it soon so that I can have long discussions about it without spoiling the story!)
I received an eARC of this book via the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Literally an intolerable read and I found the dialect of the Sengles to be racist.
I knew I could not get past reading the language in this book, so I opted to listen to it on audio instead. Made it much easier, and honestly got the hang of the "speak".
Good story, but I think it was too long, and left many questions unanswered. I would of liked to have some background on how the U.S. got to this point and more about the "posies". Not sure if I would read a follow-up or not. Read this one, as it was on a book challenge I am doing, and so far, no one has been able to finish it.
Good story, but I think it was too long, and left many questions unanswered. I would of liked to have some background on how the U.S. got to this point and more about the "posies". Not sure if I would read a follow-up or not. Read this one, as it was on a book challenge I am doing, and so far, no one has been able to finish it.
Quit on page 9. "Linguistically ambitious" indeed.
The Country of Ice Cream Star was both challenging and rewarding. Challenging primarily because it's written in future slang, but having already read Feersum Endjinn, Riddley Walker and A Clockwork Orange this just meant that I needed to read it more slowly. Rewarding because the characters and their world genuinely pull you in. This book was a pleasant surprise and I am eager to see what Newman does next.
Mocking Jay told with ebonics
this book is uneven. very slow to read until about page 400.
The language is interesting, but ultimately so much happens *to* ice and not enough done by ice. It seems that the author is overly interested in world building and her new language and forgets what makes a good story.
The ending page is horrible.
I can not recommend this book.
this book is uneven. very slow to read until about page 400.
The language is interesting, but ultimately so much happens *to* ice and not enough done by ice. It seems that the author is overly interested in world building and her new language and forgets what makes a good story.
The ending page is horrible.
I can not recommend this book.
I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher (Chatto and Windus/Random House Canada) via NetGalley. A version of this review is also on my education blog and has been submitted to NetGalley.
Sandra Newman's The Country of Ice Cream Star is a YA novel about a young woman named Ice Cream Fifteen Star who lives in a post-plague event United States. For generations now, a contagious disease has killed everyone over a certain age; North American society bears no resemblance to its former self. The novel recounts the protagonist and her tribe's struggle for survival in a brutal world.
The book is fast paced and tense, and one of its best features is the use of first-person narrative rather than clumsy exposition in world-building. The beginning of the novel plunges us into the middle of the action, but as we accompany Ice Cream in her day to day existence, the narrative slowly reveals small details that eventually form a clearer picture of her society.
And now the one downside: although I know it can be done effectively (e.g. Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker, part of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas), I am not a big fan of narratives told completely in dialect. I admire the way Newman commits wholeheartedly to her characters' invented patois, but if not done skilfully, this style can be precious and annoying. It's a fine line, and unfortunately I think this novel treads it too closely.
In terms of using the novel for a literature course, I've decided while I would not use it as an assigned text, I might recommend it to individual students whom I know are a) interested in dystopian fiction and b) not easily frustrated or put off by the use of dialect for several hundred pages.
Sandra Newman's The Country of Ice Cream Star is a YA novel about a young woman named Ice Cream Fifteen Star who lives in a post-plague event United States. For generations now, a contagious disease has killed everyone over a certain age; North American society bears no resemblance to its former self. The novel recounts the protagonist and her tribe's struggle for survival in a brutal world.
The book is fast paced and tense, and one of its best features is the use of first-person narrative rather than clumsy exposition in world-building. The beginning of the novel plunges us into the middle of the action, but as we accompany Ice Cream in her day to day existence, the narrative slowly reveals small details that eventually form a clearer picture of her society.
And now the one downside: although I know it can be done effectively (e.g. Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker, part of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas), I am not a big fan of narratives told completely in dialect. I admire the way Newman commits wholeheartedly to her characters' invented patois, but if not done skilfully, this style can be precious and annoying. It's a fine line, and unfortunately I think this novel treads it too closely.
In terms of using the novel for a literature course, I've decided while I would not use it as an assigned text, I might recommend it to individual students whom I know are a) interested in dystopian fiction and b) not easily frustrated or put off by the use of dialect for several hundred pages.
Ugh. 300 pages and I can't go on. Won't go on. Don't care anymore. No rating.
I think I would have given this book five stars except for the ending. It was a wonderful, engaging book right up to the end, where it feels like the authors editors said, hey, let's jump on the trilogy band wagon and rope the fans in for another 15 bucks! I am sick to death of trilogies, but there is no way there is not another book about Ice Cream Star, and I loved her so much, you know I'll be reading it.