Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - The Inland Sea

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Inland Sea by Madeleine Watts

10 reviews

carlytenille's review

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challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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coralcrab77's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

There were some minor editing issues that I noticed.
But for a debut novel, I thought it was beautiful and well-written. I saw parts of myself in the narrator.
I have recently found that I love character-driven stream-of-consciousness writing, but I know it's not for everyone.

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marthabethanreads's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I was so confused by this book. It wasn’t bad at all just not one for me!

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jackelz's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character

There is a lot of unpack here. I checked this one out from the library to satisfy a ‘climate change’ prompt, but this book is so much more than that.

I found the writing style very unique. The narrator is never named, and most of the people she interacted with had fictional names. There are tidbits about John Oxley (her ancestor), and his exploration of the Lachlan river to find an Inland Sea, randomly throughout the book.

The protagonist indulges in blackout drinking, unprotected sex, and hazardous hook ups with an ex. She works at Australia’s Triple Zero dispatch center answering phones, “Emergency police, fire, or ambulance.” I felt the helplessness she felt when she couldn’t connect the caller fast enough. We come to learn her thoughts and fears surrounding climate change, which are parallel to her habits of self destruction.

This book made me uncomfortable at times, but it will be one that sticks with me for a long time.

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rachelyvonnee's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.75

I really liked Madeleine Watts' writing style, the way that at times the main characters behaviours/feelings are effected/shown by climate change. However I was really confused as to why the great great great great explorer grandfather just dipped in and out in (seemingly) random places not really added much to what was happening at that point. From the blurb it seemed like he was going to have a much bigger part to play - maybe I'm missing something?

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