Scan barcode
rojulian's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
stephibabes's review
5.0
This book was not what I anticipated. I saw it recommended on a Guardian list of sci fi. But this book whilst intriguing from the blurb turned out to be so much more powerful than I could have imagined.
The pacing. The geographical setting. The lush description. The ties between the past, present and future. The magical realism. The rich character development. The unfolding storytelling. All done so incredibly well.
But I cannot overstate the feeling of awe I had at the centering of women, their magic and power, and their feminist mission. I felt so strongly for these women working to use history, nature and mythology to reimagine their present and use it as fuel for a better future. The fact that the whole story it told through the ensuing public enquiry due to the upset this inevitably causes is a strike of utter inspiration.
Easily the best audiobook I have listened to this year.
I listened to this on an Audible trial. I won't be keeping it after the trial period. I am looking at alternatives to Amazon and will go back to using my local public library too. Support your local library!
The pacing. The geographical setting. The lush description. The ties between the past, present and future. The magical realism. The rich character development. The unfolding storytelling. All done so incredibly well.
But I cannot overstate the feeling of awe I had at the centering of women, their magic and power, and their feminist mission. I felt so strongly for these women working to use history, nature and mythology to reimagine their present and use it as fuel for a better future. The fact that the whole story it told through the ensuing public enquiry due to the upset this inevitably causes is a strike of utter inspiration.
Easily the best audiobook I have listened to this year.
I listened to this on an Audible trial. I won't be keeping it after the trial period. I am looking at alternatives to Amazon and will go back to using my local public library too. Support your local library!
ionaclark's review
4.0
This is a proper 4.5 star - very tempted to give it 5 but just feel like its not quite at the hamnet levels of excellence. funny, interesting, beautifully written. got a bit attacked by the motif of feeling like there is too much to do, too many lives to live etc.
andream0885's review against another edition
Couldn't get into story or connect with any of the characters.
redannieoh's review
Really hard to follow, the concept is promising but the writing style was too much for me.
joshuaperry's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
piedwarbler's review
4.0
I found this book a challenging read, no doubt about it, but a worthwhile one. It’s the story of Cwen, an island off the north coast of England, and it contemplates how patriarchal society is, and how a matriarchal society might look. Eva leads a movement to give women fair representation on the island, and she challenges all kinds of accepted norms on the island. Of course, this doesn’t go down well with the male population, which leads to a public inquiry to examine whether the women have been unfairly advantaged.
The book is meticulously researched and when you consider, as a reader, all the ways in which historically, women’s roles have been marginalised over the centuries, going right back to Celtic society, and also across the breadth of Europe and beyond, from Tacitus to Robert Graves, you feel more and more how far the patriarchy reaches into every corner of society. This is the strength of the book.
For me, the book wasn’t perfect. The chapters from the island’s perspective were the best, for me; poetic and timeless, it was nature writing and feminist writing at its best. Where the book worked slightly less well, for me, was in the large cast of characters, some of whom came alive on the page, but others of whom appeared more like plot devices. The plot felt a bit messy to me, and there wasn’t a clear enough thread in the second half particularly to provide narrative drive, but I persevered and the outcome of the inquiry and the judge’s summing up at the end felt as though it was worth the journey.
This book feels like one that needs more than one reading to be fully appreciated, and I may well revisit it in future. I feel for me it works a lot better than some other recent feminist big hitting books like Girl, Woman, Other, because for me, it reaches further. There is a set of notes at the back that I wish I’d spotted earlier on in my reading. There is also a non fiction book by the same author that I should like to read, called The Britannias. I feel this would flesh out some of the stories that are touched upon in Cwen.
Thanks to Shrew Books in Fowey for the handsell.
The book is meticulously researched and when you consider, as a reader, all the ways in which historically, women’s roles have been marginalised over the centuries, going right back to Celtic society, and also across the breadth of Europe and beyond, from Tacitus to Robert Graves, you feel more and more how far the patriarchy reaches into every corner of society. This is the strength of the book.
For me, the book wasn’t perfect. The chapters from the island’s perspective were the best, for me; poetic and timeless, it was nature writing and feminist writing at its best. Where the book worked slightly less well, for me, was in the large cast of characters, some of whom came alive on the page, but others of whom appeared more like plot devices. The plot felt a bit messy to me, and there wasn’t a clear enough thread in the second half particularly to provide narrative drive, but I persevered and the outcome of the inquiry and the judge’s summing up at the end felt as though it was worth the journey.
This book feels like one that needs more than one reading to be fully appreciated, and I may well revisit it in future. I feel for me it works a lot better than some other recent feminist big hitting books like Girl, Woman, Other, because for me, it reaches further. There is a set of notes at the back that I wish I’d spotted earlier on in my reading. There is also a non fiction book by the same author that I should like to read, called The Britannias. I feel this would flesh out some of the stories that are touched upon in Cwen.
Thanks to Shrew Books in Fowey for the handsell.
boosmummy's review
1.0
Had to plod through this and by the end I wondered why I bothered as it was so boring.
kjteehan's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
When reading the book it was enjoyable, however I did put the book down for almost a year before completing.