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jrmarr's review against another edition
4.0
This is a beautiful book - one of the best books I've read in some time. So full of heart and complexity, it breaks your heart and fills it with gratitude in the one moment. Such beautiful writing - this one stayed with me.
kcfromaustcrime's review against another edition
3.0
Winner of the 2009 Victorian Premier's Literary Award, SUFFICIENT GRACE is a difficult book to categorise.
Told from the viewpoint of young Ruth, it's a story about life and survival in a brutal climate, in a brutal, bleak, religious community.
Presented particularly to this reader as a crime novel, I've struggled to get this categorisation to work effectively. Partly I suppose you could call this a psychological thriller, partly there is a small crime element to it, but ultimately it seemed more saga than anything else.
It's beautifully written, poetic almost lyrical in parts, but with a matter-of-factness which is soothing and chilling, all at once. All of which explains why the bleakness of the world that the girls, Ruth and her cousin Naomi inhabit seem even more stark and the existence of secrets and hidden lives perfectly believable. It is, however, talking about a life in which religion is overwhelming and family dynamics are everything - bad-apples and all. Not an area of reading that I'm personally ever drawn to.
It is, however, a book that has at its core, a story about life in a religious, closed, sheltered community. Self-sufficient, this is not a life that's neatly packaged and presented. There is brutal reality - in the way that animals are hunted / slaughtered, in the cover-ups. Not a book that you could call "enjoyable" SUFFICIENT GRACE is a book that many readers will find instructive, moving and very effective.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/sufficient-grace-amy-espeseth
Told from the viewpoint of young Ruth, it's a story about life and survival in a brutal climate, in a brutal, bleak, religious community.
Presented particularly to this reader as a crime novel, I've struggled to get this categorisation to work effectively. Partly I suppose you could call this a psychological thriller, partly there is a small crime element to it, but ultimately it seemed more saga than anything else.
It's beautifully written, poetic almost lyrical in parts, but with a matter-of-factness which is soothing and chilling, all at once. All of which explains why the bleakness of the world that the girls, Ruth and her cousin Naomi inhabit seem even more stark and the existence of secrets and hidden lives perfectly believable. It is, however, talking about a life in which religion is overwhelming and family dynamics are everything - bad-apples and all. Not an area of reading that I'm personally ever drawn to.
It is, however, a book that has at its core, a story about life in a religious, closed, sheltered community. Self-sufficient, this is not a life that's neatly packaged and presented. There is brutal reality - in the way that animals are hunted / slaughtered, in the cover-ups. Not a book that you could call "enjoyable" SUFFICIENT GRACE is a book that many readers will find instructive, moving and very effective.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/sufficient-grace-amy-espeseth
dyrimwolfe's review against another edition
5.0
This book has to be one of the most beautiful and yet devastating ones I've read in quite awhile, and reader beware this is quite a heavy read.
It's biblical analogies laced with dark pieces of the families past was stunning. The way Espeseth writes, the way she lures you in and then breaks you along with the complete shattering of Naomi and Ruth's innocence is beautifully painful.
The descriptions and comparisons of the seasons, the animals, just everything was laid out hauntingly and so precisely that I feel like I have been shadowing them throughout the story, watching from the snow covered forest.
If you don't mind a lot of description and can handle some heavy and dark stuff, then this book is definitely worth a try.
It's biblical analogies laced with dark pieces of the families past was stunning. The way Espeseth writes, the way she lures you in and then breaks you along with the complete shattering of Naomi and Ruth's innocence is beautifully painful.
The descriptions and comparisons of the seasons, the animals, just everything was laid out hauntingly and so precisely that I feel like I have been shadowing them throughout the story, watching from the snow covered forest.
If you don't mind a lot of description and can handle some heavy and dark stuff, then this book is definitely worth a try.
bravereads's review against another edition
I enjoyed the writing a lot in this book, but I just decided to stop torturing myself via religious trauma (lmao) and DNF this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence and Religious bigotry
court229's review against another edition
4.0
While this was a slow burn to start, the suspense was almost more than I could bear for the last 20% or so of the novel. Ruth’s commentary and thoughts relating to religion, nature, animals and everything between could feel distracting or cumbersome at times but after finishing the book, I do think it helped to put the reader in her head and heart. Beautiful writing, important themes but dark and heavy (which I love, but not for everyone). Lots to talk about with this one.
nlgn's review against another edition
4.0
A difficult book to review. The writing is exquisite, but at times so emotionally raw as to be uncomfortable reading. The nuances of Ruth's changing perception of her world are captured beautifully.
vanillawounded's review against another edition
2.0
dnf'd with like barely any of the book left but anyway, it dragged too much and just took way to long to get to the point; which didn't make it suspenseful or disturbing or anything - just annoying and slow
hyphonowlet's review against another edition
4.0
Preserved within the pages of this novel are secrets and emotions resulting from those secrets while at the same time diluted by them. The setting is cold; the writer has taken care to enchantingly depict the weather and how it wraps around the characters. The setting makes the relationships feel more necessary, and not just for the fact that there are not many. In an environment where ice keeps everything still, the experience of reading Ruth and Naomi's story is similar to what I imagine it feels like to be couched in hibernation under layers of snow, waiting for the winter to pass. The story is dark, slow, but the moments of light, colour and warmth are subtle and slight, made more noticeable by the cold. It is as if the cold holds the beauty only for those willing to sit with it.
sarahjansencom's review against another edition
5.0
From the contained poetry of the title and the delicately brutal cover art, the sweet yet shocking opening scene to the closing realisation of the young protagonist, reading Sufficient Grace was a beautiful experience.
blackcatlouise's review against another edition
5.0
Another book I've had on my shelf for ages and I wish I'd got round to before. I knew I would like it- young female character lives in a religious community in the snow covered wilderness; these are all things I love!
I really liked the writing, it was quite gentle and fitted the voice of the central protagonist Ruth really well. Horrible scenes are described in such a matter of fact way the reader is left feeling shocked but the narrator is evidently not shocked-this is how she lives. The scenes of animal hunting and butchery are pretty intense from the first few pages onward but this is also a warning to the reader that cruelty of many kinds is treated very casually by the characters in this novel.
Images of blood and suffering are repeatedly compared to the suffering of Christ. A very particular brand of Christianity pervades the novel. I believe they are Pentecostals. Anything can be overlooked as long as you stay with God.Speaking in tongues and conversing with God stand in contrast to the keeping of terrible human secrets.
I loved the cold and snow, the atmosphere was created so well it made me shiver in my warm sitting room,I felt the cold intensified the sense of isolation of these families. They are physically separated by snow and icy roads and socially separated by their religious beliefs. There is a very strong sense of what is "us " and "not us " in this novel.
I also enjoyed the female relationships in this novel, most especially between Ruth and Naomi which transcends all of the events that befall them.
This was a great read and I loved it. A solid 5* read .
I really liked the writing, it was quite gentle and fitted the voice of the central protagonist Ruth really well. Horrible scenes are described in such a matter of fact way the reader is left feeling shocked but the narrator is evidently not shocked-this is how she lives. The scenes of animal hunting and butchery are pretty intense from the first few pages onward but this is also a warning to the reader that cruelty of many kinds is treated very casually by the characters in this novel.
Images of blood and suffering are repeatedly compared to the suffering of Christ. A very particular brand of Christianity pervades the novel. I believe they are Pentecostals. Anything can be overlooked as long as you stay with God.Speaking in tongues and conversing with God stand in contrast to the keeping of terrible human secrets.
I loved the cold and snow, the atmosphere was created so well it made me shiver in my warm sitting room,I felt the cold intensified the sense of isolation of these families. They are physically separated by snow and icy roads and socially separated by their religious beliefs. There is a very strong sense of what is "us " and "not us " in this novel.
I also enjoyed the female relationships in this novel, most especially between Ruth and Naomi which transcends all of the events that befall them.
This was a great read and I loved it. A solid 5* read .