Reviews

On Fragile Waves by E. Lily Yu

fermqs's review

3.0

Although it took me a while to get used to writing style, by the end I really liked how the story was told by weaving the fairy tales in the dialogue and in the whole narrative. It's really moving how it shows the hard reality of the situation whilst gives the reader a glimpse of hope and joy in the saddest moments. It's not an easy story to read but it's really well crafted. I really liked the ending of the book.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

_b_a_l_'s review

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Quite beautiful

marinaraclara's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

sleepiebear's review

3.0

interesting. i got the recommendation as sci fi / fantasie, and I accept, still not my normal thing. and maybe a bit too real.

kathrynjl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

On Fragile Waves is a moving, poetic novel that follows a family as they flee from Afghanistan and immigrate to Australia. This is a beautifully crafted and solemn story. I enjoyed the lyrical writing style but did find it harder to develop a deep understanding of the characters as people rather than a storytelling device through which to advance the narrative.

lizaroo71's review

4.0

This story follows siblings Firuzeh and Nour. Their family flees Afghanistan and makes their way to Australia by way of Indonesia.

Firuzeh tries to keep focused on the positive by telling stories steeped in folklore. It works only for so long before the magic wears off.

This shines a light on the life of refugees not only while trekking to a new destination, but life in a camp and the highs and lows of assimilating into a new life.

lolovestoread's review

adventurous dark informative inspiring medium-paced

3.5

loreleifae's review

1.0

I couldn't finish it to be honest. I wanted to like it but I just found the prose awful. It felt more like forced poetic than organic beautiful prose. For example, the book never used quotation marks to indicate dialogue, despite having copious amounts of it. This isn't the only book I've seen to do that as a literary devise, but it almost never works for me.

achda's review

emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

mchao666's review

4.0

And they stayed on that side of the water, and we on this.

Evoking at times the prose of a folktale, I could see where the story would end but still read on anyways.