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leahrosereads's Reviews (1.04k)
For a debut novel, The Shock of the Fall was freaking awesome. Hell, for a however many numbered novel, this book was pretty spectacular.
This book follows Matthew and adult mental illness and very real family connections. It shows how mental illness can affect everyone's lives and how the person with the illness sees themselves, their family, and life/society. It was raw and bitter and beautiful to read.
Filer did just a fantastic job at giving Matthew an original and very genuine voice. I may not have liked him some of the times (partly because he's a bit of an asshole), but I connected with Matthew pretty early on. His struggles with himself, his family, and his illness were heart wrenching to witness.
The Shock of the Fall is told entirely in Matthew's point of view, and it is written/told in a diary-type format (without the weird dated headers - which I really liked not seeing). Filer did something pretty neat by changing up the text from traditional font to typewritten. It means something in the story and being able to see the changes really helped elevate this story to a whole new level for me.
What kept this novel from being 5 stars was the slow/disjointed beginning. It took me a while to get used to the writing and because I couldn't grasp the changes quick enough, my reading of this book for about the first 50 pages or so was just as disjointed and slow as reading the novel felt to me.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There was a bit of hype around The Shock of the Fall and sometimes the hype isn't deserved. For this novel though, it really was.
This book follows Matthew and adult mental illness and very real family connections. It shows how mental illness can affect everyone's lives and how the person with the illness sees themselves, their family, and life/society. It was raw and bitter and beautiful to read.
Filer did just a fantastic job at giving Matthew an original and very genuine voice. I may not have liked him some of the times (partly because he's a bit of an asshole), but I connected with Matthew pretty early on. His struggles with himself, his family, and his illness were heart wrenching to witness.
The Shock of the Fall is told entirely in Matthew's point of view, and it is written/told in a diary-type format (without the weird dated headers - which I really liked not seeing). Filer did something pretty neat by changing up the text from traditional font to typewritten. It means something in the story and being able to see the changes really helped elevate this story to a whole new level for me.
What kept this novel from being 5 stars was the slow/disjointed beginning. It took me a while to get used to the writing and because I couldn't grasp the changes quick enough, my reading of this book for about the first 50 pages or so was just as disjointed and slow as reading the novel felt to me.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There was a bit of hype around The Shock of the Fall and sometimes the hype isn't deserved. For this novel though, it really was.
I feel so awkward giving this a star rating that I almost didn't.
I just don't know how to accurately review someone's life. Sure, I've read some biographies and nonfiction, and last year around this time, I read [b:The Complete Maus|15195|The Complete Maus (Maus, #1-2)|Art Spiegelman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327354180s/15195.jpg|1658562]. And it pretty much broke my heart.
This story did the same. It was such an informative and necessary read. I would recommend it to anyone. Harden did a good job at showing the reader Shin's story, while also showing the atrocities that are continuing to go on in North Korea.
It wasn't entertaining, and I didn't find any joy in reading this story. But, it was thought provoking and a reminder to always keep my eyes and heart open, and to never close my mind to the pain and human sufferings that go on all of the world.
When I can, I need to do what I can to help always.
I just don't know how to accurately review someone's life. Sure, I've read some biographies and nonfiction, and last year around this time, I read [b:The Complete Maus|15195|The Complete Maus (Maus, #1-2)|Art Spiegelman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327354180s/15195.jpg|1658562]. And it pretty much broke my heart.
This story did the same. It was such an informative and necessary read. I would recommend it to anyone. Harden did a good job at showing the reader Shin's story, while also showing the atrocities that are continuing to go on in North Korea.
It wasn't entertaining, and I didn't find any joy in reading this story. But, it was thought provoking and a reminder to always keep my eyes and heart open, and to never close my mind to the pain and human sufferings that go on all of the world.
When I can, I need to do what I can to help always.
This is my first re-read of 2016. It was just as fantastical and frightening as I remembered it, but I found myself enjoying it more this time around.
I saw more of myself in the narrator this time. From his fears of the dark matching my own as a child, to what he went through not even remotely matching my own childhood. But, I had an over-active imagination, and I know that I saw and dreamed up monsters in the shadows and the dark, and maybe it wasn't my imagination but memories.
OK, it was definitely just my imagination, but how terrifying would it be to discover that it was really a memory long forgotten?
Neil Gaiman did an excellent job of giving his seven year old narrator a seven year old's voice. It felt very genuine and really helped keep me completely engaged in the story.
Honestly, I felt that Mr. Gaiman did everything right with this novel. The length felt perfect for this story - I didn't think it dragged or it ended too quickly. The plot and the characters were just spot on, and I was in our narrator's corner 100% of the time. I despised the monsters in this book and hoped that they would meet their demise. And I especially loved the Hempstock women. They were strong, brave, wonderfully magical, brilliant, caring, extraordinary beings.
This is one of those novels that I know I'll continue to re-read in years to come, and one that I would honestly recommend to everyone to try. It's one of my favorite Gaiman works, and I know I haven't read them all yet, but I think it'll stay one of my favorites of his.
This review is becoming a rambling mess, so I'm going to end it. I really, really think you check out [b:The Ocean at the End of the Lane|15783514|The Ocean at the End of the Lane|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351914778s/15783514.jpg|21500681]. Seriously, if you haven't yet, try and get to this book in 2016. It's under 300 pages, and I really don't think you'll be disappointed.
I saw more of myself in the narrator this time. From his fears of the dark matching my own as a child, to what he went through not even remotely matching my own childhood. But, I had an over-active imagination, and I know that I saw and dreamed up monsters in the shadows and the dark, and maybe it wasn't my imagination but memories.
OK, it was definitely just my imagination, but how terrifying would it be to discover that it was really a memory long forgotten?
Neil Gaiman did an excellent job of giving his seven year old narrator a seven year old's voice. It felt very genuine and really helped keep me completely engaged in the story.
Honestly, I felt that Mr. Gaiman did everything right with this novel. The length felt perfect for this story - I didn't think it dragged or it ended too quickly. The plot and the characters were just spot on, and I was in our narrator's corner 100% of the time. I despised the monsters in this book and hoped that they would meet their demise. And I especially loved the Hempstock women. They were strong, brave, wonderfully magical, brilliant, caring, extraordinary beings.
This is one of those novels that I know I'll continue to re-read in years to come, and one that I would honestly recommend to everyone to try. It's one of my favorite Gaiman works, and I know I haven't read them all yet, but I think it'll stay one of my favorites of his.
This review is becoming a rambling mess, so I'm going to end it. I really, really think you check out [b:The Ocean at the End of the Lane|15783514|The Ocean at the End of the Lane|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351914778s/15783514.jpg|21500681]. Seriously, if you haven't yet, try and get to this book in 2016. It's under 300 pages, and I really don't think you'll be disappointed.
Full review after #24in48.
Enjoyed the story. Didn't love the romance til end, really like the friendships.
Enjoyed the story. Didn't love the romance til end, really like the friendships.