Josh Krysak
Exceptional writing and an uncommon story with characters to care for made this a winner for me.
*4.5 This book. It really is a wonder. Such creativity and such a personal look at love and loss and what it means to be human. Regardless a few minor personal misgivings, this is a stellar novel of great importance.
Required reading for understanding the brutality of slavery. However strangely paced at times, heartbreaking in scope.
A disappointment. Had some of the traditional Malerman trappings and an interesting enough concept but it was too disjointed and there was never an investment. Still, I am looking forward to Unbury Carol.
Probably close to a 4.5. What an immersive and atmospheric read. I got lost in this book.
Reread in 2022 for book club. First read in May 2019. Vivid and clean. Simple prose and yet, so moving and often quite funny. I saw another reviewer call McCall Smith a palette cleanser. What an apt observation.
4.5 to 5. It was nearly pitch perfect! I don't quite know what it was about this book, but I was enveloped in the nuanced characters and Schmidt's ability to wrap her readers in the senses her characters experience. What was particularly striking was her ability to feature other senses outside of sight, which I find is typically the most described sense in the majority of work. Colors and textures and the look of things - they are certainly included, but not at the forefront most of the time. Instead, smell and feel and sound were so expertly drawn and featured. Especially smell and sound. I highly recommend this chilling tale of what might have happened in this infamous crime.
*4.5 stars. This book was so haunting and beautiful. I thought that one of the detractors mentioned by some reviews was one of the things I most enjoyed. Just because one major, life-changing thing is happening to a person does not mean others cannot simultaneously occur. Fridlund is able to capture the awful confusion, angst, loneliness and weariness of the teenage years with two major narratives propelling those elements and playing off of one another and eventually shaping the character in so many ways.
*4.5 stars. So fierce and beautiful and vivid. Shades of Cormac McCarthy in the brutal, ceaseless action mixed with tender details and thoughtful interludes that are unforgettable.
*2.5 stars for Moshfegh's ability to craft exceptional sentences and her decadent yet disgusting descriptions and characterizations. That said, it's too much and too off and feels that it is all just for shock value and lacking any real meaning.
This book was an easy 4-star read and probably flirting with 5 stars for the first 50 percent of the book, before the final third just went off the rails and drove down my rating. It was gang-busters and fun and propulsive and then it was repetitive and silly and just not so great.
*3.5 stars. This book was so odd and engaging. The bits about Lincoln were the highlight for me, as well as some of the rendering of the shadowy, in-between world of the Bardo, but some of the cast of characters were just too strange and inconsequential to the narrative. I was intrigued and annoyed by them in turns. Still, an inventive novel about a fascinating and terrible moment in presidential history and one that I overall enjoyed reading.
Immersive and beautifully written. So happy to finally have gotten around to reading Atkinson. Can't wait to explore more.
A lovely read. The parts about Daniel were so soft and wonderful. Some sections got a bit muddled for me, but overall a quiet, moving narrative.