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mandareads1690's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
mollyan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
anukumar's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
janada59's review against another edition
3.0
Not what I thought it was going to be when I started, but in a good way. It was a pleasant surprise, but overall a sad read. Rather than a book about the bond between sisters it read to me more as a story about coping with grief, trying to balance family and cultural expectations with individual expression while growing up, and the bonds between sisters.
It was a quick read, but a good one.
It was a quick read, but a good one.
zainabferoz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-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
4.0
audreyd93's review against another edition
4.5
This book was heartbreaking and beautiful. The prose was breathtaking. I never wanted it to end. I wanted to wrap these characters up and never let them go. They deserved everything.
torrie_reads's review
5.0
Thoughts
"How terrible—to be an ordinary orphan. Not a superhero. Not a wizard in waiting. Not a prophet who goes to a cave. Just—ordinary. All that grief, wasted. All that fucking grief for nothing."
After reading If They Come For Us I am not surprised that this book was exceptional. It's a story about sisters who lose their parents so their Uncle— who they do not know—takes them in but does not care for them like a parent would.
Instead they take care of each other. Becoming Mothers to each other.
"My sisters-mothers are both on their own boats, in different seats. I'm waiting at the shore for them to come back. I don't know where my boat is, or where my sea is."
This book is written so beautifully that you just want to reread it to drink in the words again and again.
"The secret to knowing the secret is to speak, but we too often tell the stories of no matter and avoid the one story that does matter."
"How terrible—to be an ordinary orphan. Not a superhero. Not a wizard in waiting. Not a prophet who goes to a cave. Just—ordinary. All that grief, wasted. All that fucking grief for nothing."
After reading If They Come For Us I am not surprised that this book was exceptional. It's a story about sisters who lose their parents so their Uncle— who they do not know—takes them in but does not care for them like a parent would.
Instead they take care of each other. Becoming Mothers to each other.
"My sisters-mothers are both on their own boats, in different seats. I'm waiting at the shore for them to come back. I don't know where my boat is, or where my sea is."
This book is written so beautifully that you just want to reread it to drink in the words again and again.
"The secret to knowing the secret is to speak, but we too often tell the stories of no matter and avoid the one story that does matter."
justabean_reads's review
3.0
(This won the first Carol Shields Prize, which goes to American and Canadian fiction by female and non-binary authors. You can see I finally managed to read the first winner after they announced the second winner. I'm very on top of my award reading!)
Follows the youngest of three sisters (who may not be entirely a girl) after they're orphaned then taken in by their uncle. "Taken in" used very loosely here, as he's on the make, sets the siblings up in an empty apartment, and then largely forgets they exist, except when he wants to lay down the law and/or yell at them. I liked the siblings and the relationship between them, how each had their own perspective on the best way to survive and make the best out of their situation, and there's a great 1990s vibe to a lot of it. However, the book felt Dickensian in how poorly they were treated/couldn't catch a break, and it was a little over the top in places, to the point where I think a lot of it was allegorical?
Mostly I didn't vibe with the writing style, which tended to breathy and repetitive steam of consciousness, and I'm not entirely convinced anyone talks like that, even inside their own head. It's a 300+ page book, but the audiobook was five and a half hours (a little over half of what you'd expect), so I'm guessing there's a lot of stylistic white space in the print version. Maybe that would've been better, though I did like the narrators.
Follows the youngest of three sisters (who may not be entirely a girl) after they're orphaned then taken in by their uncle. "Taken in" used very loosely here, as he's on the make, sets the siblings up in an empty apartment, and then largely forgets they exist, except when he wants to lay down the law and/or yell at them. I liked the siblings and the relationship between them, how each had their own perspective on the best way to survive and make the best out of their situation, and there's a great 1990s vibe to a lot of it. However, the book felt Dickensian in how poorly they were treated/couldn't catch a break, and it was a little over the top in places, to the point where I think a lot of it was allegorical?
Mostly I didn't vibe with the writing style, which tended to breathy and repetitive steam of consciousness, and I'm not entirely convinced anyone talks like that, even inside their own head. It's a 300+ page book, but the audiobook was five and a half hours (a little over half of what you'd expect), so I'm guessing there's a lot of stylistic white space in the print version. Maybe that would've been better, though I did like the narrators.