A review by slinging_books
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

dark mysterious reflective

4.0

I was hooked from the first page, and for the first 2/3 of the book, I couldn’t understand why it didn’t catch more award noms. But there’s a turning point where the exploration of character gives way to pure plot, and while my interest never flagged, it left me feeling like the back half of the book was missing something. Still, I’m so impressed by the way Catton was able to exactly capture the ideals, the energy, and the (flawed, human) characters that would populate a group like Birnam Wood, and of a certain moment in time when the idealism of your early twenties starts to tarnish.

Overall, a great summer read, the perfect blend of think-y and pace-y.

“The real choices that you make in life, the really difficult defining choices, are never between what’s right and what’s easy. They’re between what’s wrong and what’s hard.”