You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
alyaofwinterfell 's review for:
The City of Woven Streets
by Emmi Itäranta
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
3.5 stars
I'm so happy that I gave this book a chance!
It's a Finnish fantasy/dystopian novel about an island slowly sinking into the sea, and features a beautifully understated romance between two girls, each carrying their own secrets and burdens.
I don't want to say too much about the plot and the characters at this point because I don't want to give away too much information - it's best if you go and discover it by yourself!
The atmosphere that Itäranta paints is dreamy and at times eerie. The writing is beautiful and there are some truly stunning quotes, the prose is rich and full of vivid imagery.
However, there is also a downside to this. I have to admit that I struggled quite a bit at the beginning – the author doesn't do much explaining at start and you have to put together little pieces of information about world building and the characters as you read on. Everything in this book feels dreamlike, but that is not always good. To me, it was hard to get a good sense of the world and the characters because of the vagueness of the writing, so it took me about 120 pages before I could actually enjoy the story and have a better idea about what's going on.
Other than that, I LOVED the imagery that the book left in my mind – all the sea green hues, scent of brine and sea, salty breeze, empty halls, gauzy webs floating in the wind, the drowned streets of a doomed city… and best of all, the quiet, sweet relationship that blooms between our narrator and a mute girl that one day appears at the temple.
I adore the world that the author created and the dreamy feeling that persists throughout the novel.
So all in all, it was a beautiful, lyrical read but I had some issues with the sometimes too flowery prose and it took me really long to get into the story.
Would I recommend it? Well, that depends.
READ IF:
• you like to get lost in dreamy fantasy worlds,
• you don't mind a slow read,
• you're looking for something fresh and original
• you like a slow burn, understated romance
DON'T READ IF:
• you are looking for a fast paced adventure – this one is quite the opposite,
• you dislike purple prose,
• you need the world building and the characters to be well defined and have a strong sense of what is going on
I'm so happy that I gave this book a chance!
It's a Finnish fantasy/dystopian novel about an island slowly sinking into the sea, and features a beautifully understated romance between two girls, each carrying their own secrets and burdens.
I don't want to say too much about the plot and the characters at this point because I don't want to give away too much information - it's best if you go and discover it by yourself!
The atmosphere that Itäranta paints is dreamy and at times eerie. The writing is beautiful and there are some truly stunning quotes, the prose is rich and full of vivid imagery.
However, there is also a downside to this. I have to admit that I struggled quite a bit at the beginning – the author doesn't do much explaining at start and you have to put together little pieces of information about world building and the characters as you read on. Everything in this book feels dreamlike, but that is not always good. To me, it was hard to get a good sense of the world and the characters because of the vagueness of the writing, so it took me about 120 pages before I could actually enjoy the story and have a better idea about what's going on.
Other than that, I LOVED the imagery that the book left in my mind – all the sea green hues, scent of brine and sea, salty breeze, empty halls, gauzy webs floating in the wind, the drowned streets of a doomed city… and best of all, the quiet, sweet relationship that blooms between our narrator and a mute girl that one day appears at the temple.
I adore the world that the author created and the dreamy feeling that persists throughout the novel.
So all in all, it was a beautiful, lyrical read but I had some issues with the sometimes too flowery prose and it took me really long to get into the story.
Would I recommend it? Well, that depends.
READ IF:
• you like to get lost in dreamy fantasy worlds,
• you don't mind a slow read,
• you're looking for something fresh and original
• you like a slow burn, understated romance
DON'T READ IF:
• you are looking for a fast paced adventure – this one is quite the opposite,
• you dislike purple prose,
• you need the world building and the characters to be well defined and have a strong sense of what is going on