Review by danaaliyalevinson - The Antidote

danaaliyalevinson 's review for:

The Antidote by Karen Russell

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I quite enjoyed this book. The world felt rich and well drawn. The magical realism aspect was quite well done and specific. The characters were also specific and compelling. My only gripe with the book, which is what kept it from being a 5 star read for me, is that I felt the final third was a bit on the nose and hitting the reader over the head with the book’s grand theme. So it left the climax feeling a bit didactic and like an after school special about the lesson we’re supposed to take from everything. And I sort of wished Russell had trusted the reader more. Because I thought the theme was quite clear, and not at all hitting us over the head, throughout the entirety of the book up till that point. It was baked
in to how the magic functioned in the world she created. I didn’t need a

an ending that amounts to a lecture about what we’re supposed to take from it all.

This said, it didn’t ruin the book for me. Obviously still a 4.5 star rating from me, because I still quite liked this book and even the ending, while on the nose, was still satisfying.

Content Warnings