Reviews

Glory by Gillian Wigmore

awkward_bee's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

alyssa_104's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

dessa's review against another edition

3.0

If, like me, you never want to have kids, this book will hammer home the horrible, constricting, suffocating nature of kids. Our protagonist overcomes it, but sort of in a magical way - too much emotional and mental change behind the scenes to be entirely convincing.

What I loved about this book: its role as a love letter to Northern BC, as a love letter to wild or abandoned or small-town spaces which alternately confine and liberate. Which, I suppose, is what it’s trying to say about Renee’s relationship with her kid, too. Confinement and liberation in weirdly equal, simultaneous parts.

nvukos's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

rdebner's review against another edition

5.0

I highly recommend this gorgeous, gripping book, for its deep sense of place and compelling women who make hard choices in an isolated place that can be unforgiving.

prussianblue's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

finally a book that is not just canadian fiction but Canadian Fiction that i actually like. (i'm canadian i can say we have a lot of terrible books)
perfect setting fascinating characters and this lovely mode of writing. i just liked it!
ending got a bit cheap at parts for me but overall it was good

notnicolebrewer's review against another edition

5.0

Wow, what a book. I want to write something here because I know it's helpful, when a potential reader wanders over and wants to know why it's rated five stars. But part of what made it wonderful is that I can't quite put my finger on what sucked me in and wouldn't let me go - Wigmore's writing, the aching truth of small town-ness, the unflattering complexity of Renee, Crystal, and Glory. I loved this simple and familiar story of navigating a new town, parenthood, new people, art and family and good men and bad men, and I loved that it was neither simple nor familiar. It felt new and difficult, and I was hooked from start to finish.

On a structural level, the book was carefully and expertly assembled, its main high-stakes storyline (shared primarily by two first-person narrators, Renee and Crystal) supplemented by monologues from other residents of Fort St James, bringing new depth not just to the women, but to the town itself, a character in its own right.

clarehitchens's review against another edition

5.0

I said an audible "oof!" as I finished this sucker punch of a book. I'm not usually a visual reader, but I could "see" this book throughout. The inclusion of sections of chorus contributed to this having a dramatic feel, like it was playing out in front of me. Especially in the climactic scene I wanted to reach out and pull everyone to safety, but I'm just a member of the audience.