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A review by trips
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is difficult to rate. Its a perfectly lovely book, with overall nice pacing with good discussion on extremely relevant societal issues. Its not incredibly exciting, but it doesn't need to be to tell the story its weaving.
Its the oddest sci-fi I've ever read simply because its very obviously sci-fi while feeling like a literary fiction novel. And I really enjoyed it for that.
But at the same time...isn't this just Cloud Atlas? Well, its a lot shorter, and more relevant to our post 2020 lives, so perhaps its more palatable.
I also don't think the last 5% of the book is truly necessary, once the 'reveal' happens, I was thinking "Ok, we get it, lets wrap it up,"...but I have a feeling I'm in the minority with that opinion!
In any case, its a book I could recommend to both my older aunt and closer friends, a book we can all take something away from.
Its the oddest sci-fi I've ever read simply because its very obviously sci-fi while feeling like a literary fiction novel. And I really enjoyed it for that.
But at the same time...isn't this just Cloud Atlas? Well, its a lot shorter, and more relevant to our post 2020 lives, so perhaps its more palatable.
I also don't think the last 5% of the book is truly necessary, once the 'reveal' happens, I was thinking "Ok, we get it, lets wrap it up,"...but I have a feeling I'm in the minority with that opinion!
In any case, its a book I could recommend to both my older aunt and closer friends, a book we can all take something away from.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol