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lisabarksdale 's review for:
Life After Life
by Kate Atkinson
Some books leave an impact. They stick with you long after you've read them. I have a feeling this will be one of those books for me. My Mom had given me a copy of Kate Atkinson's Life After Life several years ago, and only just this February did I finally feel inspired to take it off the shelf. Little did I know it was the perfect February read. This book is not meant to be read on the beach or in the summer. It's a book for the depths of northern winter, meant to be read in a time when the world looks really bleak but we all keep living anyway.
I feel like anything I say about this book will be too much of a spoiler, so I don't want to make this review too thorough. I've seen some reviewers comment with frustrations about the style and pace of the book, which is very stop-start-stop-start due to the main character being reborn and living her life over and over again throughout the course of the book. I can see how this could be frustrating, but I found myself feeling in awe of the author's ability to use this style of storytelling and yet still make each telling of the story unique and interesting. Each unfolding only brings the characters more to life and adds complexity to the story. It's brilliantly done!
I did find that at times I was wishing for more agency somehow on the part of Ursula. I wanted her to reach some kind of climactic realization of her abilities and take charge in a drastic way, but that climax didn't exactly happen, at least not in the way I was wishing for. But I don't think that frustration detracts from the greatness of this book. Oftentimes I've discovered that the sign of a good book is that it frustrates you and subverts your expectations. If I'm wanting to literally reach into the story and shake the characters and say "Hey, you need to do this differently!" it's a sign that I'm pretty into the book! And I felt that way numerous times while reading this.
I have a feeling that if I read it again I'd discover even more connections that I'd missed. There is meticulous craft in this work, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a winter book that keeps you enthralled until the end (and maybe afterwards too).
I feel like anything I say about this book will be too much of a spoiler, so I don't want to make this review too thorough. I've seen some reviewers comment with frustrations about the style and pace of the book, which is very stop-start-stop-start due to the main character being reborn and living her life over and over again throughout the course of the book. I can see how this could be frustrating, but I found myself feeling in awe of the author's ability to use this style of storytelling and yet still make each telling of the story unique and interesting. Each unfolding only brings the characters more to life and adds complexity to the story. It's brilliantly done!
I did find that at times I was wishing for more agency somehow on the part of Ursula. I wanted her to reach some kind of climactic realization of her abilities and take charge in a drastic way, but that climax didn't exactly happen, at least not in the way I was wishing for. But I don't think that frustration detracts from the greatness of this book. Oftentimes I've discovered that the sign of a good book is that it frustrates you and subverts your expectations. If I'm wanting to literally reach into the story and shake the characters and say "Hey, you need to do this differently!" it's a sign that I'm pretty into the book! And I felt that way numerous times while reading this.
I have a feeling that if I read it again I'd discover even more connections that I'd missed. There is meticulous craft in this work, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a winter book that keeps you enthralled until the end (and maybe afterwards too).