Reviews and Comments

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Rachel Unkefer

runkefer@bookwyrm.social

Joined 1 year ago

Reader, writer, mostly literary fiction with brief forays into nonfiction and poetry

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reviewed Sparrow by James Hynes

No cover

James Hynes: Sparrow (2023, Abrams, Inc.)

 3 stars

Not much plot or character development

3 stars

I’ve read several of Hynes’ novels and this was very different. I was very interested in the historical setting, but that’s kind of all there was. The character development was not particularly deep and there wasn’t a lot of plot until the last 25 pages when everything went into overdrive. And then the ending was a bit abrupt and not all that satisfying. So, I kept reading because I was interested in the historical detail, but I wasn’t all that engaged with the characters.

finished reading Sparrow by James Hynes

No cover

James Hynes: Sparrow (2023, Abrams, Inc.)

 3 stars

I’ve read several of Hynes’ novels and this was very different. I was very interested in the historical setting, but that’s kind of all there was. The character development was not particularly deep and there wasn’t a lot of plot until the last 25 pages when everything went into overdrive. And then the ending was a bit abrupt and not all that satisfying. So, I kept reading because I was interested in the historical detail, but I wasn’t all that engaged with the characters.

reviewed Weather by Jenny Offill

Jenny Offill: Weather (2020) 4 stars

Weather is a 2020 novel by American writer Jenny Offill. The novel is narrated by …

Devastating

4 stars

This might be one of the most depressing and devastating books I’ve read on a long time. It’s so quiet and yet so affecting. The unnamed narrator navigates the mess of her personal and family life amid her growing awareness of climate disaster. She drops her kid off at school, tries to help her substance-addicted brother, and wonders how her marriage is holding up, all while ruminating about prepping and survival strategies and whether to move somewhere “safer” in anticipation of a dismal future. It’s depressing because of its familiarity, devastating because it’s like looking in a mirror during your late night bouts of doom and gloom.

The writing is great and the semi-stream-of-consciousness is very effective. This book would be good for those who aren’t already mired in the sort of rumination this narrator is. Lots of people need to read this book. Unfortunately I think I wasn’t one …

reviewed Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry

Sebastian Barry: Old God's Time (2023, Penguin Publishing Group) 4 stars

Tough subject matter, masterfully handled

5 stars

What is really happening, what is memory, what is the mind’s defense against knowing the truth? Barry’s main character Tom Kettle confronts these questions daily as he navigates the aftermath of intergenerational trauma, the creation and destruction of a family, and the ongoing damage of sexual assault by Catholic priests in Ireland.

reviewed Girls They Write Songs About by Carlene Bauer

Carlene Bauer: Girls They Write Songs About (2022, Farrar, Straus & Giroux) 3 stars

The 2nd half is better than the 1st half

3 stars

This book is like a mashup of “Almost Famous” and Lena Dunham’s “Girls.” So, not great. The writing in the first half has a lot of run-on sentences and badly needed an editor. The last half is much better written, but doesn’t really make up for shaky start. Ultimately, the theme of the book is that even the most intense female friendship can’t survive one of the friends choosing marriage and children. The main character, first person narrator, who remains single, is supposed to be the wronged one here, but she comes off as whiny and immature. There is a romanticization of life as a couple of 20-something girls in late 1990s New York working for a music magazine, but it actually doesn’t seem like they’re having all that much fun. A bit mystifying why this book got good reviews.