A review by zestylobster
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jesus christ 😭😭😭

so much to think about, it's the kind of book that now that i'm finished i just want to go back to the start and begin again

the big front loading of character profiles in the first section of the book reallyyy worked for me - the way the pace of the book slowly increased until it reached the bigbig tension at the end was soo good, altho i can see why the slow start might turn some people off

i looveeee so much the way catton writes, the way she focuses on these little details in routine things to the point where im thinking at many points in the book "wait, i thought i was the only person who noticed those little things! never seen anybody put it into words like that before!!!!" just such lovely, expert writing IMO!

also i think the ending was pretty perfect, no concrete resolution but it gave you justtttt enough to be satisfied. also also, for like the entire third section of the book my heart was beating sooo fast, i was INVESTED
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