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mrs_a_is_a_book_nerd's Reviews (456)
An escape and page-turner in one
This has been on my TBR list for a while, and a friend nudged me to move it up the queue. I understand why.
The characters are interesting, and the plot--revealed as the narrator unravels the truth--leaves you always questioning who should be believed. Flashbacks are used well to help lock pieces of the puzzle in place as the story unfolds.
My chief complaint is that I can't "buy" Hannah. She's too perfect. Unrealistically selfless and unflappable.
Still, it was an absorbing and fun read.
This has been on my TBR list for a while, and a friend nudged me to move it up the queue. I understand why.
The characters are interesting, and the plot--revealed as the narrator unravels the truth--leaves you always questioning who should be believed. Flashbacks are used well to help lock pieces of the puzzle in place as the story unfolds.
My chief complaint is that I can't "buy" Hannah. She's too perfect. Unrealistically selfless and unflappable.
Still, it was an absorbing and fun read.
Exceptional series!
Fans of Hunger Games will love this series! I adored this book and its predecessor. Exceptional adventure story. Truly creative, fast-paced, and addictive!
Fans of Hunger Games will love this series! I adored this book and its predecessor. Exceptional adventure story. Truly creative, fast-paced, and addictive!
Wow. Slow simmer for a while, but still interesting. Then... Whiplash! What a twist!!
This book was AMAZING -- beautifully written, insightful, poignant, and heart-wrenching. It's about hockey, but it's really about life: hard, but it's supposed to be. It's about human nature, how we are all both good and bad at the same time. It's about the divisions that exist between us: what they destroy, how we heal, and why they're never fully mended. Fredrik Backman is a writer who knows how to build characters that we want to know more and walk alongside for a while.
I'm not a hockey fan in the least, but this was a book I'll be recommending as one of the best I've read this year.
I'm not a hockey fan in the least, but this was a book I'll be recommending as one of the best I've read this year.
3.75
I enjoyed the narrator and her perspective, and was wholly absorbed in the historical basis that informed the plotline. I had not only not heard of the forced sterilizations of Black, brown, and poor people in the 60s and 70s, I was unfamiliar with the Tuskegee syphilis "study" that was its predecessor. Boy, have we succeeded in making absolute monsters of ourselves...over, and over, and over again.
Two things bothered me in the plot:
First, Depo-Provera comes into the plotline early and often, with doubts painted as to its safety and the characters pushing to look into it further, seeing as it seemed to cause cancer in lab animals. This question is never fully answered/ addressed.
Second, (and maybe I blew by it...I read before bed), where did Anne come from? Who's her father?? Did Civil marry? What the heck?!?
Overall, though, it was an engaging, insightful read.
I enjoyed the narrator and her perspective, and was wholly absorbed in the historical basis that informed the plotline. I had not only not heard of the forced sterilizations of Black, brown, and poor people in the 60s and 70s, I was unfamiliar with the Tuskegee syphilis "study" that was its predecessor. Boy, have we succeeded in making absolute monsters of ourselves...over, and over, and over again.
Two things bothered me in the plot:
First, Depo-Provera comes into the plotline early and often, with doubts painted as to its safety and the characters pushing to look into it further, seeing as it seemed to cause cancer in lab animals. This question is never fully answered/ addressed.
Second, (and maybe I blew by it...I read before bed), where did Anne come from? Who's her father?? Did Civil marry? What the heck?!?
Overall, though, it was an engaging, insightful read.
This is super hard to review, but here goes...
The whole book is basically one big set-up to a sequel/series. As such, it never really builds a decent head of steam. The concept of sin beasts and sin-eating is very interesting to me, so I loved the premise. But between the many, many invented terms for food, neighborhoods, and more, and the slow simmer to the cusp of the conflict, it was a challenge to stick with it. I don't know that I'll go out of my way to read the next book(s).
The whole book is basically one big set-up to a sequel/series. As such, it never really builds a decent head of steam. The concept of sin beasts and sin-eating is very interesting to me, so I loved the premise. But between the many, many invented terms for food, neighborhoods, and more, and the slow simmer to the cusp of the conflict, it was a challenge to stick with it. I don't know that I'll go out of my way to read the next book(s).
Apocalyptic fiction is typically NOT my taste, but I wanted to give this a try, as I've been trying to read more indigenous/First Nations fiction this year.
At first, I thought the book was going to DRAG (listening on audiobook and the narrator speaks slowly and without a lot of inflections), and yet, there was something about it that was compelling to me. I'm SO glad I stuck with it!
I have to address the reviews that have challenged the book's quality by saying it's not compelling or it's not dramatic enough, that the plot didn't build satisfactorily... I think it may be a result of a narrow expectation of plot arc/tension set against a cultural value of evenness and using words sparingly...?
I thought the plot built just fine and there are plenty of factors to add drama: the sudden shutdown of electric, cellular, satellite; the harsh oncoming winter, the arrival of strangers who are not part of the community and may not be cooperative, the dwindling food stores/supplies and the mounting deaths in the community all create points of conflict, plus the BIG twist at the end...
I just didn't like that some of the bigger plot elements (or the how/why of them) were left as unknowns.
In all, I really liked this book and the voice actor who narrated it. I would read more by this author!
At first, I thought the book was going to DRAG (listening on audiobook and the narrator speaks slowly and without a lot of inflections), and yet, there was something about it that was compelling to me. I'm SO glad I stuck with it!
I have to address the reviews that have challenged the book's quality by saying it's not compelling or it's not dramatic enough, that the plot didn't build satisfactorily... I think it may be a result of a narrow expectation of plot arc/tension set against a cultural value of evenness and using words sparingly...?
I thought the plot built just fine and there are plenty of factors to add drama: the sudden shutdown of electric, cellular, satellite; the harsh oncoming winter, the arrival of strangers who are not part of the community and may not be cooperative, the dwindling food stores/supplies and the mounting deaths in the community all create points of conflict, plus the BIG twist at the end...
I just didn't like that some of the bigger plot elements (or the how/why of them) were left as unknowns.
In all, I really liked this book and the voice actor who narrated it. I would read more by this author!
A sweet story
I enjoyed this story a lot! The story of 8-year-old Ursa is sweet and captivating. The book had the perfect blend of reality, love, human interest, suspense, humor, and heart.
I enjoyed this story a lot! The story of 8-year-old Ursa is sweet and captivating. The book had the perfect blend of reality, love, human interest, suspense, humor, and heart.
