Scan barcode
audioaxolotl's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Ableism, Body shaming, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Infertility, Xenophobia, and Animal death
Minor: Murder, Suicide, and Torture
itsbumley's review
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, Xenophobia, Genocide, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Hate crime, and Gun violence
Moderate: Torture
clevermird's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Number 13 in my quest to read the "great classics" of Western Literary Canon, The Chrysalids is the second science fiction entry on the list (the first being Brave New World, which was just before I started doing these reviews)
Like Brave New World, The Chrysalids takes place in a distant future. Many years ago, the technologically advanced Old People were wiped out in what is now referred to as The Tribulation. Since then, mutation has run rampant in the small pockets of humanity that remain and crops, livestock, and humans must all be certified by government inspection as being correctly formed before they can be allowed to exist. Young David Strorm has never questioned this reality until one day he meets a girl who is perfectly ordinary, except for her six toes. The events this sets in motion lead David to question the beliefs he's always taken for granted and to realize that he might not be quite in the True Image either. . .
This book was an interesting one. Reading it gave me a very "young adult dystopian novel" vibe (not entirely a bad thing), which I suppose proves that there's nothing new under the sun. The prose was easy and enjoyable to read and the structure of the beginning of the novel, a series of scenes throughout David's childhood that slowly expand both the characters and the worldbuilding, are masterfully done. Several of them also had genuinely devastating emotional climaxes. The first half of the book overall is extremely solid.
However, Wyndham fumbles in the second half. Without spoiling too much, once the narrative abandons the episodic structure to focus on a longer event, the pacing struggles, the character development slows, and most of the things I liked about earlier sections are lost. Perhaps some of this is inevitable in trying to complete the narrative set up in the first half, but what isn't inevitable is the borderline deux ex machina ending, nor the loss or ignoring of most of the questions about tolerance and what it means to be human. In the end, it felt like the author couldn't figure out how to end the story, so he just threw in a simple resolution so he could stop writing without bothering to integrate it with the themes or characters.
As a more positive side note, something that stood out was the handling of the religious bigotry and oppression themes. I find these very hard to do well, typically being very one-note and unsubtle. They were equally unsubtle here, but something about it worked for me. I think it was the lack of one-note-ness, the way different characters were shown to have different attitudes towards things, different levels of intensity, and even different reasons for their beliefs, rather than being a solid wall of hatred of mutants.
Overall, a simple post-apocalyptic dystopia initially carried on strong writing and characters that falls apart in the third act. Worth a read if the premise interests you, but not a strong recommendation from me.
Like Brave New World, The Chrysalids takes place in a distant future. Many years ago, the technologically advanced Old People were wiped out in what is now referred to as The Tribulation. Since then, mutation has run rampant in the small pockets of humanity that remain and crops, livestock, and humans must all be certified by government inspection as being correctly formed before they can be allowed to exist. Young David Strorm has never questioned this reality until one day he meets a girl who is perfectly ordinary, except for her six toes. The events this sets in motion lead David to question the beliefs he's always taken for granted and to realize that he might not be quite in the True Image either. . .
This book was an interesting one. Reading it gave me a very "young adult dystopian novel" vibe (not entirely a bad thing), which I suppose proves that there's nothing new under the sun. The prose was easy and enjoyable to read and the structure of the beginning of the novel, a series of scenes throughout David's childhood that slowly expand both the characters and the worldbuilding, are masterfully done. Several of them also had genuinely devastating emotional climaxes. The first half of the book overall is extremely solid.
However, Wyndham fumbles in the second half. Without spoiling too much, once the narrative abandons the episodic structure to focus on a longer event, the pacing struggles, the character development slows, and most of the things I liked about earlier sections are lost. Perhaps some of this is inevitable in trying to complete the narrative set up in the first half, but what isn't inevitable is the borderline deux ex machina ending, nor the loss or ignoring of most of the questions about tolerance and what it means to be human. In the end, it felt like the author couldn't figure out how to end the story, so he just threw in a simple resolution so he could stop writing without bothering to integrate it with the themes or characters.
As a more positive side note, something that stood out was the handling of the religious bigotry and oppression themes. I find these very hard to do well, typically being very one-note and unsubtle. They were equally unsubtle here, but something about it worked for me. I think it was the lack of one-note-ness, the way different characters were shown to have different attitudes towards things, different levels of intensity, and even different reasons for their beliefs, rather than being a solid wall of hatred of mutants.
Overall, a simple post-apocalyptic dystopia initially carried on strong writing and characters that falls apart in the third act. Worth a read if the premise interests you, but not a strong recommendation from me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Child abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Ableism, and Death
Minor: Suicide, Torture, Child death, and Sexual assault
waywardbard's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Suicide
Minor: Murder, Classism, Incest, Infertility, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Child death
hnmeier's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, and Xenophobia
More...