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A review by fastasashark
Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman
2.0
2.75/5 stars
This was a hard book to rate for me. I was excited to read it and really wanted to enjoy it more than I did. Its not that I actively disliked it so much that it was "just ok" for me. I think the main problem for me was that a lot of the book felt limited to very repetitive internal dialogues. It jumped a lot between characters, but it felt like those characters were constantly thinking and hammering home the same thoughts over and over again. I found it made it hard for me to focus or get into the story because it made it feel like not much was happening beyond the repetition of the same thoughts for each character.
I do respect what the author was trying to do, but just the way the story was told didn't really engage me, I guess. But it seems lots of other folks liked it, which is great. I found once Grark entered the story, things started to pick up a bit imo. And I did think the way the story lines concluded was one of its strengths.
I liked the interview with the author at the end, and feel like I did learn things I hadn't known about Australian history (for example, I had no idea that slavery of Indigenous people didn't end until the 60s there...which both is...and isn't?...surprising given that genocide of Indigenous people is still happening in places like Canada, Australia etc.). I'm also going to check out some of the other books recommended in the interview.
This was a hard book to rate for me. I was excited to read it and really wanted to enjoy it more than I did. Its not that I actively disliked it so much that it was "just ok" for me. I think the main problem for me was that a lot of the book felt limited to very repetitive internal dialogues. It jumped a lot between characters, but it felt like those characters were constantly thinking and hammering home the same thoughts over and over again. I found it made it hard for me to focus or get into the story because it made it feel like not much was happening beyond the repetition of the same thoughts for each character.
I do respect what the author was trying to do, but just the way the story was told didn't really engage me, I guess. But it seems lots of other folks liked it, which is great. I found once Grark entered the story, things started to pick up a bit imo. And I did think the way the story lines concluded was one of its strengths.
I liked the interview with the author at the end, and feel like I did learn things I hadn't known about Australian history (for example, I had no idea that slavery of Indigenous people didn't end until the 60s there...which both is...and isn't?...surprising given that genocide of Indigenous people is still happening in places like Canada, Australia etc.). I'm also going to check out some of the other books recommended in the interview.