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A review by nicolet2018
Dark Eden by Chris Beckett
3.0
When I began this book, the first thing that came to mind was the song in High School Musical "Stick to the Status Quo".
"No, no, nooooo
no, no, no
Stick to the stuff you know
If you wanna be cool
Stick to one simple rule
Don't mess with the flow, no no
Stick to the status quo"
Mostly because the Family refused to open their minds to possibilities and were more comfortable with leaving things as they are. That is human nature isn't it? Fearing change and risk. The themes of the story are so common and if you like dystopian and sci fi this is probably something you would be interested in.
The way they hold their traditions and tell the old stories of how they came to be and the frustrations of the characters like John and Tina who are sick and tired of hearing about the same old things, felt relatable and universal. I was impressed with how the Family created society and had rules. The way they talk about myths and unknowns was interesting too. Despite their simplistic lifestyle, characters want more, get greedy and tempted.
I was most surprised by how sex was such a perfunctionary thing for the Family and the reason why their children are born slighted deformed, the "batface" was what I assumed was a cleft lip and claw foot is where the toes are deformed I guess. What touched me the most was the reader has a perspective of males who do not want sex and feel uncomfortable with it but they do it anyway. In most of our real life and fiction we hardly hear about the male's perspective of sex as they are traditionally those who seek sexual pleasure. It was interesting to see how some thought of sex as special and some thought of it as a everyday thing like hunting for food. It was so different so see that polygamy was normal for the family even incest.
Their words were spelled slight differently but I caught on like "lecky-trickity" is electricity and "secret ree" is secretary. I could go on and on about how the words differ. Of course we have John Redlantern who wants more than he has and is the odd one out. He tries to speak out but is beaten down but he does not give up.
This really was a coming of age story and the reader can see how John struggles with leadership and learns that leaders are not always loved and at times stand alone. I liked how Jeff is seen as a weirdo when he is young but he blossoms in appearance when he grows up and that changes how others see him.
I did struggle through this book because the writing style and pacing was not for me. I am the type who struggled through a book despite not liking it. I had to gorce mydelf to continue reading this to be honest. It did get better but only towards the end. I am not sure if I want to read the next book.
"No, no, nooooo
no, no, no
Stick to the stuff you know
If you wanna be cool
Stick to one simple rule
Don't mess with the flow, no no
Stick to the status quo"
Mostly because the Family refused to open their minds to possibilities and were more comfortable with leaving things as they are. That is human nature isn't it? Fearing change and risk. The themes of the story are so common and if you like dystopian and sci fi this is probably something you would be interested in.
The way they hold their traditions and tell the old stories of how they came to be and the frustrations of the characters like John and Tina who are sick and tired of hearing about the same old things, felt relatable and universal. I was impressed with how the Family created society and had rules. The way they talk about myths and unknowns was interesting too. Despite their simplistic lifestyle, characters want more, get greedy and tempted.
I was most surprised by how sex was such a perfunctionary thing for the Family and the reason why their children are born slighted deformed, the "batface" was what I assumed was a cleft lip and claw foot is where the toes are deformed I guess. What touched me the most was the reader has a perspective of males who do not want sex and feel uncomfortable with it but they do it anyway. In most of our real life and fiction we hardly hear about the male's perspective of sex as they are traditionally those who seek sexual pleasure. It was interesting to see how some thought of sex as special and some thought of it as a everyday thing like hunting for food. It was so different so see that polygamy was normal for the family even incest.
Their words were spelled slight differently but I caught on like "lecky-trickity" is electricity and "secret ree" is secretary. I could go on and on about how the words differ. Of course we have John Redlantern who wants more than he has and is the odd one out. He tries to speak out but is beaten down but he does not give up.
This really was a coming of age story and the reader can see how John struggles with leadership and learns that leaders are not always loved and at times stand alone. I liked how Jeff is seen as a weirdo when he is young but he blossoms in appearance when he grows up and that changes how others see him.
I did struggle through this book because the writing style and pacing was not for me. I am the type who struggled through a book despite not liking it. I had to gorce mydelf to continue reading this to be honest. It did get better but only towards the end. I am not sure if I want to read the next book.