pickI loved this book! It's the most immersed I've been in a book in a while. Like all of McConaghy's books, the setting is a character in itself, and this setting is beautiful, wild, unpredictable, and dangerous. The family dynamics and the mystery of what has happened on the island kept me wanting more. This might be my favorite of hers so far. This was May's #Doublespin @TheAromaofBooks
so-soA woman washes ashore an island not far from Antarctica, and finds herself at odds with the mysterious family appointed as custodians to the island‘s seed bank.
Ghosts ✨ Claustrophobic ✨ Environmental
The last 50 pages almost made up for the dragging pace of the book‘s initial 2/3rds….almost.
I read a number of good books in May, several of which I haven‘t reviewed yet on Litsy. The one I‘m going to say was my favorite is a dark horse, coming in from out of nowhere. It‘s The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan. Sadly, I won‘t remember the name of it in a month or so. 😊
2. I‘m looking forward to reading the tagged book for #CampLitsy25
@TheSpineView
Thank you for the tag @kspenmoll !
1. Favorite book in May is a tie between Tom Lake (on audio with Meryl Streep narrating) and Audition - for very different reasons. I loved the melancholy sweetness of Tom Lake and the unsettled feeling I had when reading Audition.
2. Very excited to read the tagged book in June for Camp Litsy! 😀
Tagging @Suet624 and @Cathythoughts if you haven‘t played yet!
pickRowan washes ashore on a remote island, where Dominic and his three children live in an old lighthouse and maintain a priceless seed vault. Both Rowan and Dom are secretive and grief-stricken, but the comms are out and it will be weeks before a ship arrives, forcing them to work together. The deep appreciation of nature made this book worth it, but I found the portentous writing style and inexplicable failure to communicate grating after a while.
so-soThere's much love for this book but it didn't quite click for me. There was a lot I liked, especially the descriptions of island, the ocean, & the animals. I even liked all of the main characters, which I thought was impressive for so many. But it all became #toomuch - every one of those 5 characters was burdened with grief & secrets. And the sense of oppression, while well written, wasn't for me. Still, I was mostly enjoying it till the end. 😩
It's porch reading season again! 🥰 Starting this while enjoying tea and a breeze.
pickThis was a fast read (power outage, nothing else to do), and I enjoyed it very much. I know not every book has a happy ending, but this one could have. It was a bit of a let down. The book is a bit of an emotional roller coaster, and I enjoyed the different chapters told by the different characters, none of whom were without their issues. This was also a microcosm of global warming. All in all, a solid story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pickI definitely get the hype here - this was emotional with a lot of (sometimes heavy handed) metaphor regarding climate change. While the set up was strong, some of the plotting felt awkwardly placed and I don‘t love how mental illness was handled.
I‘d give this a 3.75 out of 5.
