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justkrissaying 's review for:
Homecoming
by Kate Morton
challenging
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Things I Liked:
- The theme, as the title might suggest, of “homecoming” was well-done I thought. Even in very small, symbolic ways like whenPolly literally met Kurt by the watering hole where she disappeared from all those years ago.
- Nora was by far the most interesting character because I didn’t anticipate her having a complex character when she was presented and introduced at the beginning of the book as almost “paragon” in nature. Self-confident, inspiring, assured. SO IMAGINE THE WAY I SAT UP when Morton began to tease thatshe was a fucking gaslighting bitch. Like the emotional manipulation she spun for her own selfish gain!! Wack!! Like, I UNDERSTAND why she was that way she was, because of how the unimaginable tragedies of that Christmas Eve in 1959 that she endured, but MAN. That made her such a complex and flawed antagonistic force in the book that I did NOT expect.
Things I Didn’t Like:
- The “book within a book” trope… it made this book slog on for most of it. It didn’t start getting REAL interesting and irresistible to read until like, 70% of the way through. I really enjoyed that last 30%, but can’t deny that most of the book was just. So slow. Because of the book within a book.
- Sometimes, immediately after we finished reading a section from the Daniel Miller book, Morton would take the time to, literally in the narration itself, rehash what we JUST read… which I think also was part of what made it slog on for me.
- There was just. A big lack of diversity. Especially for a book that largely takes place in and tries to make a “home” of an area that Morton herself notes is the ancestral home of the Peramangk people. Like… this is the pot calling the kettle black of course, but. Could’ve been more diverse.
Anyway, the book was so slow for most of it that for a while I debated if I should finish it. But I pushed through and I’m glad I did because the resolution to the mystery and everything felt satisfying. Still. This book could’ve also been a LOT shorter and just as good/satisfying.
- The theme, as the title might suggest, of “homecoming” was well-done I thought. Even in very small, symbolic ways like when
- Nora was by far the most interesting character because I didn’t anticipate her having a complex character when she was presented and introduced at the beginning of the book as almost “paragon” in nature. Self-confident, inspiring, assured. SO IMAGINE THE WAY I SAT UP when Morton began to tease that
Things I Didn’t Like:
- The “book within a book” trope… it made this book slog on for most of it. It didn’t start getting REAL interesting and irresistible to read until like, 70% of the way through. I really enjoyed that last 30%, but can’t deny that most of the book was just. So slow. Because of the book within a book.
- Sometimes, immediately after we finished reading a section from the Daniel Miller book, Morton would take the time to, literally in the narration itself, rehash what we JUST read… which I think also was part of what made it slog on for me.
- There was just. A big lack of diversity. Especially for a book that largely takes place in and tries to make a “home” of an area that Morton herself notes is the ancestral home of the Peramangk people. Like… this is the pot calling the kettle black of course, but. Could’ve been more diverse.
Anyway, the book was so slow for most of it that for a while I debated if I should finish it. But I pushed through and I’m glad I did because the resolution to the mystery and everything felt satisfying. Still. This book could’ve also been a LOT shorter and just as good/satisfying.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Murder, Gaslighting