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A review by moomooasaur
The Blood of Angels by Johanna Sinisalo
5.0
This book was an absolute fantastic read.
If you’re jumping into this book thinking it’s just about the bees, then you’re wrong. It’s so much more than that. You travel through several of Orvo’s days, delving into the past of what makes him the man he is, and the recent tragedy that has befell him. He’s definitely a tragic character, one that doesn’t have all the answers, but that’s why I love him.
You’re not only getting the viewpoint of fifty-year-old Orvo but also his son (who I believe/assume was in his 20’s). Orvo’s connection to the environment is through his bee’s and the bee’s impact on the environment, but his son was an extremist, and I found his blog post to be so thrilling to read and also dissect. When they first start, you can see that Eero is passionate about his beliefs, and as the book goes on you can see them transform into something so much more, with his inclusion in the animal rights group, and even the comments on his blog and how his group interacts and feeds off each other online. It was so wonderful.
When the element of the fantastic was first introduced I was a bit skeptical of Sinisalo, but it definitely worked after it got explained. I wasn’t sure if I was going to love it and thought that it was going to be the breaking point of me reading past the halfway point, but I’m glad I stuck with it. It was simply a stunning world.
This book took me through so many twist and turns, despite it lasting a mere 219 pages. It was unpredictable for me, which seems to be a rare occurrence in books, and I think that’s because it was super character driven and not plot. Every time I tried to guess something, I was wrong, and I think that’s what kept me so engaged while also filling me with a sense of dread.
My favorite part of this novel that made me have to put the book down for a few minutes before inevitably picking it back up again because I was feeling a personal void was at page 200 (once we hear of the Colony Collapse spreading cross-continentally). I don’t want to copy it all here, especially for people who haven’t read the book, because it was so absolutely resonant, impactful, and filled me with such a sense of dread and sadness about the inevitability of the planet.
The one problem I have with this novel is the fact that the ending was super unsatisfying. There were some spots after the page 200 mark that I thought would have been a satisfying ending, but it kept going and then ended in a way that seemed a bit out of character, especially for Orvo.
Overall, I couldn’t recommend this book more.
If you’re jumping into this book thinking it’s just about the bees, then you’re wrong. It’s so much more than that. You travel through several of Orvo’s days, delving into the past of what makes him the man he is, and the recent tragedy that has befell him. He’s definitely a tragic character, one that doesn’t have all the answers, but that’s why I love him.
You’re not only getting the viewpoint of fifty-year-old Orvo but also his son (who I believe/assume was in his 20’s). Orvo’s connection to the environment is through his bee’s and the bee’s impact on the environment, but his son was an extremist, and I found his blog post to be so thrilling to read and also dissect. When they first start, you can see that Eero is passionate about his beliefs, and as the book goes on you can see them transform into something so much more, with his inclusion in the animal rights group, and even the comments on his blog and how his group interacts and feeds off each other online. It was so wonderful.
When the element of the fantastic was first introduced I was a bit skeptical of Sinisalo, but it definitely worked after it got explained. I wasn’t sure if I was going to love it and thought that it was going to be the breaking point of me reading past the halfway point, but I’m glad I stuck with it. It was simply a stunning world.
This book took me through so many twist and turns, despite it lasting a mere 219 pages. It was unpredictable for me, which seems to be a rare occurrence in books, and I think that’s because it was super character driven and not plot. Every time I tried to guess something, I was wrong, and I think that’s what kept me so engaged while also filling me with a sense of dread.
My favorite part of this novel that made me have to put the book down for a few minutes before inevitably picking it back up again because I was feeling a personal void was at page 200 (once we hear of the Colony Collapse spreading cross-continentally). I don’t want to copy it all here, especially for people who haven’t read the book, because it was so absolutely resonant, impactful, and filled me with such a sense of dread and sadness about the inevitability of the planet.
The one problem I have with this novel is the fact that the ending was super unsatisfying. There were some spots after the page 200 mark that I thought would have been a satisfying ending, but it kept going and then ended in a way that seemed a bit out of character, especially for Orvo.
Overall, I couldn’t recommend this book more.