3.5 rounded up

I think, had I not read Whiskey When We’re Dry and Blood Meridian pretty recently I would have liked this more.

What I liked the most was the structure and the plot. While the former serves up mixed results—sometimes serving to propel the pacing pretty well and effectively cutting away to build tension and interest—it also sometimes hampers the pacing as often as it helps, imo. It’s most satisfying than a straightforward linear and chronological progression though. Which means that the point of view, which made it difficult to get attached to any character, might have just exacerbated an otherwise small issue for some readers.

The plot though, I feel is quite strong. It’s highly evocative and when the narratives dovetail it is very satisfying. Heavy themes on loss and guilt, the nature of nourishment and growth, all made it compelling to me despite the authorial voice not being my favourite.

Had the overall craft surrounding character and dialogue been stronger I think this would have been a 5 star read, so I can easily understand why many people have it such a high ranking. Equally, I can see why it’s a polarizing book. It alienates genre enthusiasts and it takes quite a while for the structure of the plot to break ground. More than normal, this might heavily depend on if you just really dig the voice or not.