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wildgurl's review
4.0
The Sunlight Pilgrim
By Jenni Fagan
This Scottish author, known intially for her poetry, I first discovered, reading her debut novel, The Panopticon. She is one of the most intelligent and original writer and thinker I've come across in awhile......
This novel starts in November 2020, in Cache Falls, Scotland. They are experiencing the worse ice age imaginable, temperatures are -6 degrees and falling. She has a way of descriping the cold so vividly and realistically, you can feel the temp drop. This novel is also about family...those we are born into and those we chose. This apocalyptic novels characters make this book unforgettable and hard to not relate to.Stella ( who use to bea boy named Cael)is a transgender, her mother Constance is very supportive, and brings home the importance of family love, support and inclusion.
Stella and Constance form a life together surrounded by an usual and eccentric group of neighbors in a caravan park, attempting to survive the harsh climate.
Life is good, Stella is learning to cope with the school bullies and closed minds....as well as the in climate weather..until Dylan arrives in Clachen Falls....
Such a fantastic, forward thinking novel. Some excellent points are brought to light and I could not put this down. Another excellent novel from Jenni Fagan. Highly recommended.
By Jenni Fagan
This Scottish author, known intially for her poetry, I first discovered, reading her debut novel, The Panopticon. She is one of the most intelligent and original writer and thinker I've come across in awhile......
This novel starts in November 2020, in Cache Falls, Scotland. They are experiencing the worse ice age imaginable, temperatures are -6 degrees and falling. She has a way of descriping the cold so vividly and realistically, you can feel the temp drop. This novel is also about family...those we are born into and those we chose. This apocalyptic novels characters make this book unforgettable and hard to not relate to.Stella ( who use to bea boy named Cael)is a transgender, her mother Constance is very supportive, and brings home the importance of family love, support and inclusion.
Stella and Constance form a life together surrounded by an usual and eccentric group of neighbors in a caravan park, attempting to survive the harsh climate.
Life is good, Stella is learning to cope with the school bullies and closed minds....as well as the in climate weather..until Dylan arrives in Clachen Falls....
Such a fantastic, forward thinking novel. Some excellent points are brought to light and I could not put this down. Another excellent novel from Jenni Fagan. Highly recommended.
harrietthacker85's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
nerdyrev's review
4.0
As stated on other reviews, I am a part of Litsy and love reading the feedback from other people who love books. When I saw I had The Sunlight Pilgrims by Jenni Fagan for review*, I gulped a bit when I looked it up on Litsy as many of my fellow readers put "Bailed" around this book, meaning they stopped reading it. Was it that bad?
If you had asked me what The Sunlight Pilgrims was about before I read it based on the back cover description, I would have said it was- post apocalyptic, yet hopeful, about a mother and daughter, and a sort of love story. Based on the back cover description, I can see why people bailed because this is not what this book is about at all.
Yes, it does contain a world where the winter has gotten progressively worse and worse to the point that people freeze in the street and there is a question of whether or not there is an apocalypse.
There is also a mother and daughter- Constance and Stella, but I need to hold up here and I will come back to them in just a moment. There is a love interest/main character who comes into town after the death of his mother-Dylan. Dylan is going through his mother's home, when he happens upon Constance who comes out of her home to "polish the moon" and he is stricken with her. Dylan though is trying to figure out who his mother was.
Let's come back to Constance and Stella again. Stella is the main character of this book and she is a transgendered girl (pre-pubescent). Stella is trying to figure out how to stop her boy parts (beard, deep voice, etc) from coming in, so she can stay the girl she wants to be. Doctors won't give her pills yet and she is in email communication with her friend in Italy who is her support. Stella watches as Dylan and Constance grow closer and wishes for love as they have love.
I wrote on Litsy- if you had asked me if this was a book about a pre-apocalyptic transgender story about about identity, I would have looked at you like a dog listens to a dog whistle. I was not expecting this book to be about this topic, but it very much is. Stella is quite sure who she is. Dylan is trying to figure out who her mother was. Constance is trying to figure out her new life with a love who wants nothing from her. It all takes place during a second ice age because the ice caps are melted and are refreezing. I hate to write it, but I can see why some bailed.
Not much happens in this book at all and even the ending is somewhat ambiguous, but I felt it was very much about finding one's identity within the confines of the apocalypse. I think I liked it slightly more than my fellow Litsy readers, but it was a tough read if I am being honest. I think it is being marketed in the completely wrong way and might be trying for too many messages- love story, environmental responsibility, transgendered, etc.
I gave this one 3.5 stars as I loved Stella as a character, but I can see people not enjoying this one, sadly.
*I want to thank NetGalley/BloggingforBooks and Hogarth for the opportunity to read this book. I received it for free in book and ebook form in exchange for an honest review
If you had asked me what The Sunlight Pilgrims was about before I read it based on the back cover description, I would have said it was- post apocalyptic, yet hopeful, about a mother and daughter, and a sort of love story. Based on the back cover description, I can see why people bailed because this is not what this book is about at all.
Yes, it does contain a world where the winter has gotten progressively worse and worse to the point that people freeze in the street and there is a question of whether or not there is an apocalypse.
There is also a mother and daughter- Constance and Stella, but I need to hold up here and I will come back to them in just a moment. There is a love interest/main character who comes into town after the death of his mother-Dylan. Dylan is going through his mother's home, when he happens upon Constance who comes out of her home to "polish the moon" and he is stricken with her. Dylan though is trying to figure out who his mother was.
Let's come back to Constance and Stella again. Stella is the main character of this book and she is a transgendered girl (pre-pubescent). Stella is trying to figure out how to stop her boy parts (beard, deep voice, etc) from coming in, so she can stay the girl she wants to be. Doctors won't give her pills yet and she is in email communication with her friend in Italy who is her support. Stella watches as Dylan and Constance grow closer and wishes for love as they have love.
I wrote on Litsy- if you had asked me if this was a book about a pre-apocalyptic transgender story about about identity, I would have looked at you like a dog listens to a dog whistle. I was not expecting this book to be about this topic, but it very much is. Stella is quite sure who she is. Dylan is trying to figure out who her mother was. Constance is trying to figure out her new life with a love who wants nothing from her. It all takes place during a second ice age because the ice caps are melted and are refreezing. I hate to write it, but I can see why some bailed.
Not much happens in this book at all and even the ending is somewhat ambiguous, but I felt it was very much about finding one's identity within the confines of the apocalypse. I think I liked it slightly more than my fellow Litsy readers, but it was a tough read if I am being honest. I think it is being marketed in the completely wrong way and might be trying for too many messages- love story, environmental responsibility, transgendered, etc.
I gave this one 3.5 stars as I loved Stella as a character, but I can see people not enjoying this one, sadly.
*I want to thank NetGalley/BloggingforBooks and Hogarth for the opportunity to read this book. I received it for free in book and ebook form in exchange for an honest review
books_andprobablysome_wine's review
4.0
4,5 Stars :) Half way trough I did not expect to like this as much as I did! Loved the ending and as a Swede the mentioning of IKEA will result in an extra star and there where plenty of mentionings of IKEA.
sadiereadsagain's review
4.0
This is an apocalyptic/dystopian novel, but it is far more driven by the characters than by the impending new Ice Age which looms large around them. Grief-shrouded Dylan finds himself in a caravan park in the Highlands of Scotland, the ashes of his mother and grandmother some of the only belongings he has brought with him from the repossessed family home, a vintage cinema in London. As the world freezes around them, he forms a bond with his survivalist neighbour Constance and her daughter Stella, who is in her first year of living as a female. The dropping temperatures and increasing difficulties of living in the worst winter Scotland has ever seen force them together, and the connections between them are closer than it first appears. Stella was a character I hadn't anticipated going in to this book, and she really is the heart of the story. I felt the adult characters were more of a backdrop to her, although I did also really like the backstory and grief around the loss of Dylan's family too. Fagan's writing is sparse, yet there is real beauty in it, and the penetrating cold comes through in the reading. I wanted a bit more in that respect, to really feel the desperation of living in such a harsh climate. But maybe that would have been to the detriment of the relationship stories that make this book so intriguing, so I guess if it was a choice between the two then Fagan struck the right note.
lawofeyes's review
emotional
reflective
slow-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
3.0
Very good character development, but I found the setting to not be really relevant to the story, when the setting was the main draw for me. The slowly freezing world doesn't seem to have a huge impact on the main characters' lives (as in the main characters don't seem to address it that much), even though technically the book is interspersed with news reports and changes in the community. The ending was also rather abrupt and did not seem like a resolution. Additionally, there's not a HUGE amount of stuff that happens plot-wise. However, the characters are very well-made and fully developed, with very distinct identities and personalities
dgrhms's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
fastasashark's review against another edition
4.0
Characters were the strongest point of this book, and also really great kind of poetic writing that reminded me a bit of Memory of Water or Station Eleven. Having a young trans girl as one of the main characters was a nice surprise, and Stella really is a pretty cool kid! Really liked the friendship between Stella and Dylan too. As far as apocalyptic fiction goes I'd say this one strays pretty far from the norm and is slower paced. The book is about grief, chosen family and unconventional family, friendship and about both the very mundane and spectacular moments of life, and does all of it very well.
bellwetherdays's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25