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A review by squids_can_read
The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Thank you Penguin Random House for the ARC.
It’s a little hard to describe what this book was actually about. The plot was hard to follow because there were so many different plot lines. I thinks that’s why there were so many plot holes. Plot lines were dropped or completed weirdly, especially since the book is only 300 pages.
The characters, I have mixed feelings about. I liked them overall. I liked them at the beginning and mostly through the book. However none of the characters really grew through out the book. I will say that they changed, not necessarily in bad ways, however the characters aren’t developed on page. Most of the characters just suddenly decide to change without a whole lot of thought or development behind it. I also felt like so many important parts of the characters were glossed over because there were so many characters(10+) and so little pages. I was just disappointed in the characters development.
I also thought that the title of the book didn’t really make sense. It is a reference to a single line in the book brought up in the last 50 pages of the book. I just thought that the metaphor should have been used throughout the book instead of just at the end because it doesn’t make sense for them all to suddenly start talking about it. I also didn’t love the metaphor overall.
Finally, I thought the themes of the book were a little heavy handed. I thought the themes/messages were important and well thought out. However, all of these themes/messages are just told to the reader instead of letting the characters(and readers) figure them out for themselves. I just was a little disappointed in how showy this book was.
P.S. I will mention that I do not typically read realistic fiction, especially with these themes. So my review may be colored by that slightly.
It’s a little hard to describe what this book was actually about. The plot was hard to follow because there were so many different plot lines. I thinks that’s why there were so many plot holes. Plot lines were dropped or completed weirdly, especially since the book is only 300 pages.
The characters, I have mixed feelings about. I liked them overall. I liked them at the beginning and mostly through the book. However none of the characters really grew through out the book. I will say that they changed, not necessarily in bad ways, however the characters aren’t developed on page. Most of the characters just suddenly decide to change without a whole lot of thought or development behind it. I also felt like so many important parts of the characters were glossed over because there were so many characters(10+) and so little pages. I was just disappointed in the characters development.
I also thought that the title of the book didn’t really make sense. It is a reference to a single line in the book brought up in the last 50 pages of the book. I just thought that the metaphor should have been used throughout the book instead of just at the end because it doesn’t make sense for them all to suddenly start talking about it. I also didn’t love the metaphor overall.
Finally, I thought the themes of the book were a little heavy handed. I thought the themes/messages were important and well thought out. However, all of these themes/messages are just told to the reader instead of letting the characters(and readers) figure them out for themselves. I just was a little disappointed in how showy this book was.
P.S. I will mention that I do not typically read realistic fiction, especially with these themes. So my review may be colored by that slightly.