Review by ari_thebooklover - A Tale for the Time Being

ari_thebooklover 's review for:

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

4.5

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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: Yes

I read this book for my book club and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I found it to be interesting, heart-wrenching, and at times extremely funny. Nao is very well-written and I found myself caring for her in the same way Ruth did, like we could change what may happen to her. I enjoyed what felt like unraveling the mystery of the diary with Ruth. I only took off half a star because

I’m a bit uncomfortable with some of the topics mentioned and I disliked the dog being killed and Pesto getting hurt. Especially because the dip into the whole Schrodinger’s cat thing felt out of place and uninteresting to me. I was heartbroken watching Nao go through so much and like Oliver hadn’t realized she was being prostituted

The grandma was my favorite character by far and I wish there had been more scenes between her and Nao

Content Warnings