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ellaroselibrary 's review for:
Birnam Wood
by Eleanor Catton
If I hadn’t been reading this for a book club I might’ve dnf’ed this quite early on.
Birnam wood had so much potential and upon reading the description I thought this book was easily going to be a 4/5 star read however I had so many issues with it.
Firstly, this book could’ve absolutely benefitted from chapters to divide the changes in points of view and to make the book a lot more digestible. The entire book feels incredibly slow until roughly the 70% mark where the bulk of the plot happens at once and leaves you feeling underwhelmed. As a result the ending felt incredibly rushed but still could’ve absolutely packed a punch… if it had ended well.
I saw plenty of reviews before reading, stating that there was an amazing huge twist at the end, but it just fell flat for me, it didn’t come across as particularly shocking at all, mainly because everyone losing felt inevitable.
Additionally, I didn’t feel any form of connection to any of the characters. All of the characters felt painfully narcissistic and self absorbed and it leaves a huge disconnect for the reader as the characters are incredibly hard to like. Personally, I felt like I knew as much about all of the characters at the end of the book as when I was first introduced to them, there was little to no description of their appearances or backstories other than the basics of their relationships with other characters.
As a result of this lack of connection to the characters, the entire book felt like it had relatively no emotional stakes and the thriller aspect of things didn’t grip me in the same way it could’ve if the characters were more developed and likeable.
Alongside the previous points, this book relies very heavily on stereotypes- the evil morally corrupt billionaire, money seeking boomers, progressive eco warriors and the serial mansplainer. These tropes wouldn’t have been an issue if it weren’t for all of the characters coming across as caricatures of these stereotypes in places and parts of this book definitely read like satire.
As someone who loves both literary fiction and thrillers, this blend of genres within this book absolutely did not work. The parts which read as more of a literary fiction book felt long and tedious, whereas the parts which read as thriller felt lacklustre due to the lack of emotional connection to the characters. It is loosely evident how this book was inspired by Macbeth, however I feel like if I didn’t know in advance of reading, I wouldn’t have picked it up from the plot alone.
I found myself growing very impatient with this book due to the fact that it took until 70-75% through for the plot to thicken and I was having to force myself to read for most of the book.
In spite of the previous comments this author clearly does her research in terms of New Zealand history and politics and this reads very well in the plot. I enjoyed her writing style a great deal in spite of my lack of enjoyment from the plot itself. On the whole, I think I would try to read another Eleanor Catton book again, just not this.
+ I regret purchasing the signed and special edition of this now :((
Birnam wood had so much potential and upon reading the description I thought this book was easily going to be a 4/5 star read however I had so many issues with it.
Firstly, this book could’ve absolutely benefitted from chapters to divide the changes in points of view and to make the book a lot more digestible. The entire book feels incredibly slow until roughly the 70% mark where the bulk of the plot happens at once and leaves you feeling underwhelmed. As a result the ending felt incredibly rushed but still could’ve absolutely packed a punch… if it had ended well.
I saw plenty of reviews before reading, stating that there was an amazing huge twist at the end, but it just fell flat for me, it didn’t come across as particularly shocking at all, mainly because everyone losing felt inevitable.
Additionally, I didn’t feel any form of connection to any of the characters. All of the characters felt painfully narcissistic and self absorbed and it leaves a huge disconnect for the reader as the characters are incredibly hard to like. Personally, I felt like I knew as much about all of the characters at the end of the book as when I was first introduced to them, there was little to no description of their appearances or backstories other than the basics of their relationships with other characters.
As a result of this lack of connection to the characters, the entire book felt like it had relatively no emotional stakes and the thriller aspect of things didn’t grip me in the same way it could’ve if the characters were more developed and likeable.
Alongside the previous points, this book relies very heavily on stereotypes- the evil morally corrupt billionaire, money seeking boomers, progressive eco warriors and the serial mansplainer. These tropes wouldn’t have been an issue if it weren’t for all of the characters coming across as caricatures of these stereotypes in places and parts of this book definitely read like satire.
As someone who loves both literary fiction and thrillers, this blend of genres within this book absolutely did not work. The parts which read as more of a literary fiction book felt long and tedious, whereas the parts which read as thriller felt lacklustre due to the lack of emotional connection to the characters. It is loosely evident how this book was inspired by Macbeth, however I feel like if I didn’t know in advance of reading, I wouldn’t have picked it up from the plot alone.
I found myself growing very impatient with this book due to the fact that it took until 70-75% through for the plot to thicken and I was having to force myself to read for most of the book.
In spite of the previous comments this author clearly does her research in terms of New Zealand history and politics and this reads very well in the plot. I enjoyed her writing style a great deal in spite of my lack of enjoyment from the plot itself. On the whole, I think I would try to read another Eleanor Catton book again, just not this.
+ I regret purchasing the signed and special edition of this now :((