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A review by applesodaperson
Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
So yeah no surprise, this book did feel a bit like a fever dream. But not in a cool abstract way, but in a "I had no idea what was going on" type of way. And it just ended up being increasingly frustrating. I guess I'll start with the one I did like, the format. I think the conversation format really worked. I kept imagining a cool low-budget short film with only the two characters reading out the book like a script in a hospital room. If they could get a good child actor, I think it would work really well and not take too large of a budget.
But the format was pretty much the only thing I liked about this book unfortunately. My number one problem was that literally nothing was explained or resolved. I just kept expecting there to be some big reveal where everything clicked into place and I understood what was going on. But that literally never happened. I just ended so incredibly confused. Like I understood what was going on for most of the book, because I think I have above average media literacy, but then none of the plot points or mysteries were resolved. Like I still have no clue what was going on with the poison or the body swapping.
And honestly I don't think about this a lot, but I wonder if the book felt so off because of the translation. I don't know much about how books are translated, but something just felt off about this book, in a way that the other translated books I've read haven't. Usually I don't even notice or think about it when reading a translated book.
Overall I was just very confused by this book.
Read from the BYU library.
But the format was pretty much the only thing I liked about this book unfortunately. My number one problem was that literally nothing was explained or resolved. I just kept expecting there to be some big reveal where everything clicked into place and I understood what was going on. But that literally never happened. I just ended so incredibly confused. Like I understood what was going on for most of the book, because I think I have above average media literacy, but then none of the plot points or mysteries were resolved. Like I still have no clue what was going on with the poison or the body swapping.
And honestly I don't think about this a lot, but I wonder if the book felt so off because of the translation. I don't know much about how books are translated, but something just felt off about this book, in a way that the other translated books I've read haven't. Usually I don't even notice or think about it when reading a translated book.
Overall I was just very confused by this book.
Read from the BYU library.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death