Welcome to Litsy!

I‘ll admit that I picked up this book solely due to the cover at first. Magical realism that tries to contend with political corruption and addiction and betrayal. I didn‘t fully connect with all the characters and always felt just a bit on the outside of the story. A reader problem, not a writer problem; the writing is slow and meandering in a cup of tea in the rain or beach read kind of way. An interesting read!

To be fair I don't feel I'm qualified to review this book. 😁

Having finished it, I am not entirely sure what it was about and I know I certainly haven't connected all the dots between characters. However, this writing had me enthralled from the start. It's so descriptive, colorful, and full of almost unbelievable elements. At times reading it felt like being trapped in a fun house at a carnival- a bit unsettling, but propulsive and enjoyable. ⬇⬇

Excess & absence: food, love, words, desire, nature, sex. Magical realism stretched to the breaking point, grounded in character. So much humor & natural magic (“cors”). Ross gets away with absurd & unbelievable through sheer confidence. A certain toomuchness, but language carries it along. Island setting=PLACE as character. Gossip & playfulness. Social change. Sensuality. Story growing like crazy island vines, but feels complete in the end. 2021

I loved this. The writing is gorgeous. The story original and compelling. I also love that there is a theme running through it that will make cis-men very uncomfortable 😏

I am so glad this was on the Women's Prize List so I got to it quicker then I would have.

"On the first anniversary of his wife's death, Xavier Redchoose got up before light and went downstairs to salt the cod"

#FirstLineFriday
@ShyBookOwl

Nope. It looks like I‘m going to be in the minority on Litsy but this wasn‘t for me. Im not sure I even understood half of it! #womensprize

Fantastical, suprising, delightful, and utterly unique. I loved this book. It was at times confusing and startling but a wonderful reading experience. 5 🌟. I hope it wins The Womens Prize for fiction.

Love love loved this book! It‘s gorgeous and so brilliantly colorful, each sentence like a mouthful of sweet fruit. The characters, the place, the language, the story so moving, poetical, and bright. I want more!

This book was so weird and I kind of loved everything about it, including this cover.

Really enjoyed this lyrical story about the imaginary archipelago of Popisho, where everyone is born with a magical power. We follow four characters mainly over the course of a single day. The language is written almost as one would tell an oral story passed down through generations, but the book also tries to touch on big societal issues, and is at its heart, a love story.

I‘m not even sure how to describe this book. It‘s weird, at times unbelievably strange, and quirky and fun and fantastical. Listened to the audiobook narrated by the author. Loved her voice! Definitely the way to go although I may attempt to read the physical book at some point. Read this at the end June and I'm still thinking about it. Originally gave it 4⭐️ but I think I'm going to change that to 5⭐️

This very imaginative story is set on fictional island Popisho where magic is normal and everyone poses some special gift. The novel falls between magical realism and fantasy and is the enjoyable read, but it is also all over the place. Too many themes (political corruption, homophobia, addictions …) are clustered together just to move the story forward … but still, as I said - very enjoyable and very vibrant story.

What a fantastic year so far! I've been reading some very wonderful books, some well known but others not on too many lists, though they should be. You can't go wrong picking up any of the books from up above.

March #bookspin #bookspinbingo list!

I am doing really well with February, but I am moving next month so we will see how many I can get through!

Thanks @thearomaofbooks