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thepurplebookwyrm's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
This one was a bit different.
Genre-wise, Among Others barely qualifies as fantasy, but it didn't feel like magical realism to me either (thank goodness). Still, it does this thing where you're never entirely sure if the fantastical elements are real, or the result of the main character's fanciful perception of reality – well, up to a certain point at least. As such, I would classify this novel as 'lite domestic fantasy'.
Set between 1979 and 1980, Among Others is written as the diary of a girl named Mori (short for Morwenna), a disabled teenager from Wales who lost her twin in a car accident, and fled from her home (or rather her crazy witch of a mother, literally or not, that's up to you to figure out) to eventually land at the feet of her estranged father and his three sisters. From there, she is shipped off to boarding school in Shropshire. And stuff happens, somewhat.
Yeah, this book doesn't have much in the way of plot; it is very much a 'slice of life' story, which is why the diary format worked perfectly for it. This also means Among Others is a character-driven story more than anything else.
It is, additionally, a story that pays homage to what I'll term 'bibliophilia', SFF literature (so many real-life works and authors are name-dropped in the text), and SFF fandom. I wouldn't say the theming is particularly deep in this novel, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't strongly vibe with the genuine love it expresses towards, well, books, reading, stories and, more importantly, speculative stories. And towards the creative communities that book lovers and nerds weave together.
Among Others, to my mind, also features a thematic motif centred on the magic inherent in everyday life. Like I said, the realness of the book's fantasy elements is pretty ambiguous for most of the story; Mori says she sees, and talks to fairies (who speak Welsh, that was a nice touch), and that she and her twin used to play with them as a children. Mori says she can do magic as well, but also that magic is always – conveniently enough, ahem – 'plausibly deniable' (parallels are repeatedly drawn to Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven with regards to this point, which was another, very nice touch). As such, magic, and fairies, can potentially be seen, and understood, through the lens of grief, and alienation, since Mori has to come to terms with the death of her twin, and struggles to fit in because she's... different. Yes, I'll admit I kind of read her as neurodivergent, to some degree, though I didn't relate all that much to her, ultimately, in terms of deeper personality, which was a little disappointing (and also I'm twice her age so that didn't help in terms of getting annoyed at her immaturity, lol).
I didn't really like the story's fantasy climax and, on the whole, its speculative elements lacked cohesion. Among Others, in essence, had a promising but clumsily executed premise... yet it also held a certain sweetness, warmth and gentle luminescence I found pleasant and relaxing. As such, it was definitely worth reading at least once.
PS: Mori's casual 'hibernophobia' was really grating though. Like bish you're Welsh, and you think English people are strange... why you so xenophobic towards that one Irish girl then?! 😆
Genre-wise, Among Others barely qualifies as fantasy, but it didn't feel like magical realism to me either (thank goodness). Still, it does this thing where you're never entirely sure if the fantastical elements are real, or the result of the main character's fanciful perception of reality – well, up to a certain point at least. As such, I would classify this novel as 'lite domestic fantasy'.
Set between 1979 and 1980, Among Others is written as the diary of a girl named Mori (short for Morwenna), a disabled teenager from Wales who lost her twin in a car accident, and fled from her home (or rather her crazy witch of a mother, literally or not, that's up to you to figure out) to eventually land at the feet of her estranged father and his three sisters. From there, she is shipped off to boarding school in Shropshire. And stuff happens, somewhat.
Yeah, this book doesn't have much in the way of plot; it is very much a 'slice of life' story, which is why the diary format worked perfectly for it. This also means Among Others is a character-driven story more than anything else.
It is, additionally, a story that pays homage to what I'll term 'bibliophilia', SFF literature (so many real-life works and authors are name-dropped in the text), and SFF fandom. I wouldn't say the theming is particularly deep in this novel, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't strongly vibe with the genuine love it expresses towards, well, books, reading, stories and, more importantly, speculative stories. And towards the creative communities that book lovers and nerds weave together.
Among Others, to my mind, also features a thematic motif centred on the magic inherent in everyday life. Like I said, the realness of the book's fantasy elements is pretty ambiguous for most of the story; Mori says she sees, and talks to fairies (who speak Welsh, that was a nice touch), and that she and her twin used to play with them as a children. Mori says she can do magic as well, but also that magic is always – conveniently enough, ahem – 'plausibly deniable' (parallels are repeatedly drawn to Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven with regards to this point, which was another, very nice touch). As such, magic, and fairies, can potentially be seen, and understood, through the lens of grief, and alienation, since Mori has to come to terms with the death of her twin, and struggles to fit in because she's... different. Yes, I'll admit I kind of read her as neurodivergent, to some degree, though I didn't relate all that much to her, ultimately, in terms of deeper personality, which was a little disappointing (and also I'm twice her age so that didn't help in terms of getting annoyed at her immaturity, lol).
I didn't really like the story's fantasy climax and, on the whole, its speculative elements lacked cohesion. Among Others, in essence, had a promising but clumsily executed premise... yet it also held a certain sweetness, warmth and gentle luminescence I found pleasant and relaxing. As such, it was definitely worth reading at least once.
PS: Mori's casual 'hibernophobia' was really grating though. Like bish you're Welsh, and you think English people are strange... why you so xenophobic towards that one Irish girl then?! 😆
jools3303's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
timinbc's review against another edition
3.0
I'm more or less an average of the reviews here. This is a good coming-of-age story, and may well appeal to Readers, especially those who read SF, and really those who read 70s SF (as I did). But it was a bit disappointing too. There's a great framework here, and what's been spun on it feels a bit flimsy as I write this just after finishing the book.
More in secret:
As others have noted, there's a sense of, "oops, almost 300 pages, I need to wrap this up."
The red herrings are interesting. Was there an identity swap? If so, why? Is Mori a reliable narrator?
OK, OK, it was still a pretty good book - but low-key and somewhat unsatisfying in the end. Especially with the plot possibilities that were hinted at but didn't materialize and were probably never meant to.
Looking back, I wish Harlan Ellison had written the ending. Then we'd learn that the diary is being written in the maximum-security psych ward, because after Mori killed her mother at the end by beating her to death with branches, she revealed that she had also killed her sister years earlier during a failed attempt to bomb a coal mine. Also that she falsely set up her dad for an incest accusation that led to him being sentenced to limited release under the supervision of the aunties. Wim, of course, wasn't 17 at all; he was 23 and working for the police. There, that wraps it up.
More in secret:
Spoiler
Some of the characters looked really interesting, and I expected to learn more about them. Didn't happen. It feels as if I took a bus ride and saw unicorns in a field but the driver wouldn't stop.As others have noted, there's a sense of, "oops, almost 300 pages, I need to wrap this up."
The red herrings are interesting. Was there an identity swap? If so, why? Is Mori a reliable narrator?
OK, OK, it was still a pretty good book - but low-key and somewhat unsatisfying in the end. Especially with the plot possibilities that were hinted at but didn't materialize and were probably never meant to.
Looking back, I wish Harlan Ellison had written the ending. Then we'd learn that the diary is being written in the maximum-security psych ward, because after Mori killed her mother at the end by beating her to death with branches, she revealed that she had also killed her sister years earlier during a failed attempt to bomb a coal mine. Also that she falsely set up her dad for an incest accusation that led to him being sentenced to limited release under the supervision of the aunties. Wim, of course, wasn't 17 at all; he was 23 and working for the police. There, that wraps it up.
peach_plum_pear_dear's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident
greta_macionyte's review against another edition
5.0
Knyga apie mergaitę, kuri daug skaito, o jai tobuliausia knyga - Žiedų valdovas. Ir kaip man nepatiks...
beaktastic's review against another edition
3.0
'Among Others' is the story of a teenage girl from Wales called Morwenna Phelps, or Mori for short. Mori is no ordinary teenager, she and her twin sister Mor are able to see fairies and use magic, like their mother. Except their mother is evil and the twins decide they must stop her at all costs. In their attempt to stop her however, Mor was killed and Mori is left with a crippling injury in her leg that forces her to use a cane. Mori flees Wales to find her father who left when she was a baby, and 'Among Others' tells Moris tale after this, as she's sent to boarding school and attempts to deal with the magic, but also to come to terms with Mor's death.
'Among Others' is an interesting book. It's told from Mori's perspective through diary entries, and I think style really works to tell Mori's story as months pass in the novel and both her daily activities and her thoughts are recorded.
For the most part the book is your average, teenage boarding school story, detailing life at Arlinghurst (the school) and when Mori comes home for the holidays and such, as well as the usual teen dramas that come with it (eg. boys). But woven throughout is magic, and Mori spends a great deal of time wondering about magic and it's effects. Walton uses a different kind of magic system in this book which is really intriguing, whereby there's no magic spells or incantations, and things don't just magically happen, but rather events conspire to make things happen. For example, she might use magic to make a bus come around the corner when she wants it to, but events along the way will make the bus come at that time, if you get what I mean. It's more coincidental magic really. I couldn't decide however if the magic and the fairies that Mori spends so much time talking about would end up being real or not, and if I wanted them to be real or not.
Mori herself is an interesting character, but I just couldn't really get behind her or like her too much. On the one hand she is incredibly independant and strong-willed, and I love her story. But on the other hand, she just seemed really childish to me a lot of the time, but other times would suddenly grow up and be a teenage girl before reverting to her more child-like persona. I mean, she spends a lot of time thinking fairies and the way writes and the things that happen to her made me think of her as being no older than like 12. But then later on she reminds the reader that she's 15 and I just don't quite remember being like that at 15. And there are moments when she is shown to definately be this grown up 15 year old, doing things with boys (or at least thinking about it). Sometimes it was really disconcerting, for example at one point like halfway through the book she was thinking her usual thoughts about magic and stuff, then all of a sudden just off-handedly mentions that she then masturbated while thinking about a boy, and I just read it and was like, "wtf?!". It was just jarring.
But on the other hand, over the course of the book, Mori does grow up. This book is another one of those books which is essentially a 'coming of age' tale. And I feel that the more adult Mori seems to be more present in the latter half of the book, which I suppose reflects her personal journey which sees her growing up and accepting Mor's death.
I found it quite hard to get really into the book however, or feel gripped to know what was going to happen next, and I do think that some threads were kinda left abandoned at the end (although some were really quite unimportant overall), and that the ending part was really rushed. I mean, I can see how we're supposed to think that Mori just carried on living and that some stuff would carry on after the books ended, but it all just seemed a bit rushed and over quickly and in a bit of a cliched manner.
Mori also spends a lot of time reading science fiction books and talking about them, and while that was nice and interesting, I felt Walton made a lot of references to science fiction texts and stuff, and it sometimes felt that the reader might be missing out on something if they hadn't read all or most of the hundreds of books mentioned, although it would make a good list of books for anyone wanting to read more science fiction/fantasy! I did like the irony that Mori hates fantasy books, and yet that's what her story is basically.
Okay, I seem to have rambled a lot!
Overall, I thought the book was interesting, and got more interesting as it went along, but I felt that there was just something missing from it and Mori could be quite jarring personality wise at times. I felt that the main plotline got quite buried, and it was only at the end really that I was able to go "Oh, it was about her growing up and dealing with Mor's death" which I feel should maybe have been more obvious earlier on, but looking back I can see hints of it earlier on. Overall, a good book, but not great.
'Among Others' is an interesting book. It's told from Mori's perspective through diary entries, and I think style really works to tell Mori's story as months pass in the novel and both her daily activities and her thoughts are recorded.
For the most part the book is your average, teenage boarding school story, detailing life at Arlinghurst (the school) and when Mori comes home for the holidays and such, as well as the usual teen dramas that come with it (eg. boys). But woven throughout is magic, and Mori spends a great deal of time wondering about magic and it's effects. Walton uses a different kind of magic system in this book which is really intriguing, whereby there's no magic spells or incantations, and things don't just magically happen, but rather events conspire to make things happen. For example, she might use magic to make a bus come around the corner when she wants it to, but events along the way will make the bus come at that time, if you get what I mean. It's more coincidental magic really. I couldn't decide however if the magic and the fairies that Mori spends so much time talking about would end up being real or not, and if I wanted them to be real or not.
Mori herself is an interesting character, but I just couldn't really get behind her or like her too much. On the one hand she is incredibly independant and strong-willed, and I love her story. But on the other hand, she just seemed really childish to me a lot of the time, but other times would suddenly grow up and be a teenage girl before reverting to her more child-like persona. I mean, she spends a lot of time thinking fairies and the way writes and the things that happen to her made me think of her as being no older than like 12. But then later on she reminds the reader that she's 15 and I just don't quite remember being like that at 15. And there are moments when she is shown to definately be this grown up 15 year old, doing things with boys (or at least thinking about it). Sometimes it was really disconcerting, for example at one point like halfway through the book she was thinking her usual thoughts about magic and stuff, then all of a sudden just off-handedly mentions that she then masturbated while thinking about a boy, and I just read it and was like, "wtf?!". It was just jarring.
But on the other hand, over the course of the book, Mori does grow up. This book is another one of those books which is essentially a 'coming of age' tale. And I feel that the more adult Mori seems to be more present in the latter half of the book, which I suppose reflects her personal journey which sees her growing up and accepting Mor's death.
I found it quite hard to get really into the book however, or feel gripped to know what was going to happen next, and I do think that some threads were kinda left abandoned at the end (although some were really quite unimportant overall), and that the ending part was really rushed. I mean, I can see how we're supposed to think that Mori just carried on living and that some stuff would carry on after the books ended, but it all just seemed a bit rushed and over quickly and in a bit of a cliched manner.
Mori also spends a lot of time reading science fiction books and talking about them, and while that was nice and interesting, I felt Walton made a lot of references to science fiction texts and stuff, and it sometimes felt that the reader might be missing out on something if they hadn't read all or most of the hundreds of books mentioned, although it would make a good list of books for anyone wanting to read more science fiction/fantasy! I did like the irony that Mori hates fantasy books, and yet that's what her story is basically.
Okay, I seem to have rambled a lot!
Overall, I thought the book was interesting, and got more interesting as it went along, but I felt that there was just something missing from it and Mori could be quite jarring personality wise at times. I felt that the main plotline got quite buried, and it was only at the end really that I was able to go "Oh, it was about her growing up and dealing with Mor's death" which I feel should maybe have been more obvious earlier on, but looking back I can see hints of it earlier on. Overall, a good book, but not great.
maddoxx's review against another edition
5.0
I swear, this book changed my life. It was such an extraordinary, eye-opening thing to read and I can't even explan why. This book is an experience that maybe not all will understand, that some might be weirded out by... but if it falls into the right hands it can change a person.
kbhenrickson's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
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
5.0
This book was a love letter to science fiction and fantasy, libraries, and interlibrary loan, and, as a librarian who loves science fiction and fantasy, I was totally on board with that. I often found myself relating to the main character, especially how important books are to her and some of the ways that she thinks about her life. Even though there was not a lot of action, I did not find the story boring at all and was sad to see it end. The narrator of the audiobook definitely made the story even better, in my opinion, so I would recommend this for listening - though I did wish I also had a paper copy so I could keep track of all of the book recommendations!