Member Reviews
Emilie B, Reviewer
Publishing date: 12.04.2024
Thank you to Netgalley and Sword Circle Pen for the ARC. My opinions are my own.
The book as a meal: I was told that eating meat is bad for the environment, and this time I really thought about if for a while
The book left me: Wanting to change my ways a little bit
Negatives:
Extremely long Chapters
A little too descriptive
The Final spirit had maybe too little impact and I felt the direction takes was nonsensical
Positives:
All Vibes, barely any plot
Lots of different views and scenarios
Features:
A Christmas Carol but Earth day themed
Why did I choose this one?
I thought it was a Collection of short stories about Earth day, seems I was mistaken
Pick-up-able? Put-down-able?
Middle, maybe a little put-down-able. I am a bigger fan of Shorter Chapters, and this book had up to 30+ pages per Chapter. I found that a little hard to read and keep on Reading.
What was the vibe and mood?
It was a little nasty, and then a little Sweet, then horrifying, then more horrifying, and then Sweet again. The mood keeps changing
Final ranking and star rating?
C tier, 3 stars. I didn't Connect With this as much as expected, and it was a lot different than what i had imagined (clearly). But I think for those who enjoy weird "retellings" this might hit that Sweet spot.
Amelia K, Reviewer
This is definitely a weird book for weird people (in a good way). Despite being a debut novel, it didn't read that way at all - it was both beautifully and horrifically written at the same time. I enjoyed the diverse cast of characters/views and I'm sure you'll find yourself in at least one of them. This isn't a book for everyone but if you love books that are descriptive, make you reflect and are more about the vibes than the plot, then this is the book for you.
Characters
The main character seemed realistic overall. However, he does have a drastic change by the end of the book as a consequence of what he experiences during the book. I mean who wouldn't after getting visits from the ghosts of Earth's past, present and future.
I think the side characters played a meaningful role in the story (more on this when I discuss Plot) and I felt sympathetic towards the accessory characters we see during the visions from Earth's ghosts.
Atmosphere
This book was very atmospheric and it's a testament to the author's writing style. The atmosphere during Earth's present visions made me feel very gross (and you'll see what I mean when you get there) which I think was the author's intention.
Writing
The writing style was very descriptive and definitely felt more like a creative writing exercise. This means we lose out a little on plot and character development - not a bad thing, just a trade off in such a short book.
I enjoyed the writing overall, especially the descriptions in Earth's past's chapter. However, there were parts that I skimmed over because it was over descriptive and I felt like I had already understood point the author was trying to make.
Plot
There's little plot in this story but the little visions we got were impactful. However, there were some visions I didn't understand - maybe it's because my general knowledge isn't that great. But it means I felt like I missed some of what the author was trying to tell me. It's definitely a book you could unpack in an English or Sociology class.
The weakest part of this book was Earth's future chapter. It almost completely went over my head and not something I expected. I was expecting more Earth's desolation e.g. impact of deforestation and global warming, and didn't really understand why the author chose to depict a war type scene.
Intrigue
I read this book in a day because I was curious about what Earth's future would look like. The length of the book made this easy to do. If the book was any longer, I may have struggled through it.
Logic
It's a little hard to give a review on logic based on how speculative this story was. However, the plot made sense and I didn't find any major plot holes.
Enjoyment
I didn't love it and I didn't hate it, but I'm glad I got to read it
Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for gifting me this ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you BookRoast for the CAWPILE review method.
