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A review by gio_shelves
The Sunlight Pilgrims by Jenni Fagan
3.0
Buddy read with Cari :3
3.5
I hate having mixed feelings. I hate it because they make it much more difficult to actually express something coherent about the book, and I usually like writing reviews to clear my head about how much I liked the book itself. Anyway, overall it's for sure a positive rating, but I can't say I'm not confused because of some things...
The ending...ugh. Now, I don't dislike open endings. I'm usually open to any kind of ending, what matters to me is to see an ending that seems to fit with the story and that is still realistic. This time around I can't say I'm satisfied: I don't think that that can be considered an ending. It was very anticlimatic and abrupt. There's this slow build-up to it and then...nothing. I didn't expect something perfect, with a bow and a cherry on top, but I still expected something that would actually solve some of the story's problems.
I also had problems with the plot. Well, to be fair, I didn't feel like there was an actual plot, which isn't a bad thing per se in my book. There aren't many things that I absolutely dislike in books, and character driven books are not on the list. (On the list are things like too much drama, lack of communication, cheating, OOC characters...)
Some of my favourite books are very character driven, but still, the plot has to go somewhere, eventually. In this case I feel like there are too many issues there haven't been addressed.
That said, The Sunlight Pilgrims isn't a bad book. It's actually quite interesting, because it isn't your typical apocalypse-centered book. While the summary reminded me a bit of Station Eleven, this isn't anything like it, because it's focused on the months prior to the actual event and mainly deals with the characters' lives as the temperature drops.
The character development is probably the element I liked the most. The book truly gives us an insight to the characters' psyche and I did like the two PoVs. Stella's point of view was probably the most interesting one, because she's extremely strong and yet, fragile. Born in a boy's body she has always felt like that wasn't who she really was. I really liked how complex and yet relatable her character was. She is obviously scared, because her body is changing and she's afraid of looking like someone she isn't on the outside, but at the same time it's clear that she's incredibly strong.
The writing was quite good too. It wasn't too lirical, but it was elegant. Kind of classy anyway.
However I can't say I was completely satisfied with the book. I do think that the author developed some themes pretty well and I appreciated some of her choices, but I'm not that impressed.
3.5
I hate having mixed feelings. I hate it because they make it much more difficult to actually express something coherent about the book, and I usually like writing reviews to clear my head about how much I liked the book itself. Anyway, overall it's for sure a positive rating, but I can't say I'm not confused because of some things...
The ending...ugh. Now, I don't dislike open endings. I'm usually open to any kind of ending, what matters to me is to see an ending that seems to fit with the story and that is still realistic. This time around I can't say I'm satisfied: I don't think that that can be considered an ending. It was very anticlimatic and abrupt. There's this slow build-up to it and then...nothing. I didn't expect something perfect, with a bow and a cherry on top, but I still expected something that would actually solve some of the story's problems.
I also had problems with the plot. Well, to be fair, I didn't feel like there was an actual plot, which isn't a bad thing per se in my book. There aren't many things that I absolutely dislike in books, and character driven books are not on the list. (On the list are things like too much drama, lack of communication, cheating, OOC characters...)
Some of my favourite books are very character driven, but still, the plot has to go somewhere, eventually. In this case I feel like there are too many issues there haven't been addressed.
That said, The Sunlight Pilgrims isn't a bad book. It's actually quite interesting, because it isn't your typical apocalypse-centered book. While the summary reminded me a bit of Station Eleven, this isn't anything like it, because it's focused on the months prior to the actual event and mainly deals with the characters' lives as the temperature drops.
The character development is probably the element I liked the most. The book truly gives us an insight to the characters' psyche and I did like the two PoVs. Stella's point of view was probably the most interesting one, because she's extremely strong and yet, fragile. Born in a boy's body she has always felt like that wasn't who she really was. I really liked how complex and yet relatable her character was. She is obviously scared, because her body is changing and she's afraid of looking like someone she isn't on the outside, but at the same time it's clear that she's incredibly strong.
The writing was quite good too. It wasn't too lirical, but it was elegant. Kind of classy anyway.
However I can't say I was completely satisfied with the book. I do think that the author developed some themes pretty well and I appreciated some of her choices, but I'm not that impressed.