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kelseymarie269's review
1.0
I enjoyed the writing style, but that's pretty much it. I don't like DNF-ing a book so I powered through it but did not enjoy it whatsoever. I was hoping in the end there would be some big epiphany and I would come away feeling satisfied, but no, I'm just left feeling like WhyTF did I read this?
caitsidhe's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-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
3.75
bergenslabben's review
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-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? Yes
5.0
lissaslibraryxo's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
3.75
A rich, thoughtful and vivid commentary on the tumults and pitfalls of religion, liberty and hierarchy. Alluring, precise and deliberate prose.
lorenka's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
fern17's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
3.5
lachesisreads's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Outside of paradise, what is an angel but a bird?
eden is an incredibly difficult book for me to review, because although I enjoyed it tremendously, I'm not sure I understood all the layers it had to offer.
The story centers around a woman named Tabi who has left eden - followed on the footsteps of Adam and Eve, and is in danger of being condemnded and shut out from eden forever.
But for most of the book Tabi is off the stage; instead we follow the people she has left behind. Ebon, the man she perhaps loves. Alum, the man who desires her and to whom her wishes are inconsequential. And the angel Jamin, who also loves her, although he is a bird and she a woman. Using the vaguely biblical setting and ideas as a springboard, Crace dives deeply into philosophical questions about loyalty and free will without ever having to pose them directly. Is obedience good, if it is blind? And is seeing better, if you walk into danger and perdition with seeing eyes?
Crace's eden is not a happy place, and the people living and toiling there are just as human as those living without its borders, except for the fact that they don't die. But what's the worth of immortality in the absence of goodness? And what does being good mean?
Beginning in the secluded, cloistered, narrow garden of eden, Crace carries the reader along in almost hypnotic, beautiful prose as the story inexorably unfolds towards its necessary end; each scene evolving organically from the one before.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys deep stories about what it means to be human (or not) packaged in a fast-moving narrative and spun into beautiful prose. I'm sure this is a book we will see on all the prize lists this year, even though or perhaps because it defies definition.
I want to thank NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here expressed are my own.
eden is an incredibly difficult book for me to review, because although I enjoyed it tremendously, I'm not sure I understood all the layers it had to offer.
The story centers around a woman named Tabi who has left eden - followed on the footsteps of Adam and Eve, and is in danger of being condemnded and shut out from eden forever.
But for most of the book Tabi is off the stage; instead we follow the people she has left behind. Ebon, the man she perhaps loves. Alum, the man who desires her and to whom her wishes are inconsequential. And the angel Jamin, who also loves her, although he is a bird and she a woman. Using the vaguely biblical setting and ideas as a springboard, Crace dives deeply into philosophical questions about loyalty and free will without ever having to pose them directly. Is obedience good, if it is blind? And is seeing better, if you walk into danger and perdition with seeing eyes?
Crace's eden is not a happy place, and the people living and toiling there are just as human as those living without its borders, except for the fact that they don't die. But what's the worth of immortality in the absence of goodness? And what does being good mean?
Beginning in the secluded, cloistered, narrow garden of eden, Crace carries the reader along in almost hypnotic, beautiful prose as the story inexorably unfolds towards its necessary end; each scene evolving organically from the one before.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys deep stories about what it means to be human (or not) packaged in a fast-moving narrative and spun into beautiful prose. I'm sure this is a book we will see on all the prize lists this year, even though or perhaps because it defies definition.
I want to thank NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here expressed are my own.
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