Jem’s Comments (group member since Dec 30, 2022)

Jem’s comments from the Ranting and Reading Collective group.

I'm with Caroline on this. It was a really well fleshed out story, and I really felt for all the characters. Even the ones that were sidekicks like Maggie and Arthur. I was it invested in what happened to them. The ending felt really rushed. There was a huge amount of information which was overwhelming and confusing and it felt like the author, Kaliane felt a need to resolve a whole heap of stuff that maybe could have been explained more gently earlier on. For me, that made the ending a little unsatisfying because it left me feeling bemused and with more questions than answers. But, I don't think it detracted from what was a really intriguing concept and a good yarn. I would recommend this book and read more from the author.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed it far more than I expected.

Halfway through, I was unconvinced. It felt like a nice but unremarkable tale of friendship. The political and social upheaval in Iran at the time seemed to be little more than a watercolour backdrop to a coming-of-age story. But the story shifts and grows, as do the protagonists, and as we hear it from more perspectives, the full picture develops into a hyperreal memory.

It is melancholy and hard-hitting without being gratuitous. It conveys a feeling of life growing up in Tehran in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s—something I know very little about. It follows the day-to-day lives of two really different women whose friendship lasts decades in one form or another.

I have so much to say about this book, but I do not want to detract from other's experience of reading it fresh. I know it will stay with me for a long time, and I am glad to have read it. It hasn't revolutionised my life, but it has helped me to begin to understand why women make the choices they do when faced with regimes that are out to steal their hopes, dreams and joys. And it is a beautiful illustration of the friendship of women.

I also enjoyed the audio version of this. It was lovely to hear Sandi reading the charming story. It trips along nicely, and even though there are some hard-hitting and even shocking moments, it wraps you in a warm blanket of good-hearted people simply doing their best. There were moments where I laughed and a few gasps.

There's little to say against it, but for me, this is the downside. It was a little twee for my tastes (I just noted that Caroline used the same word, but more positively). It was a little too safe and a little too lovely. Sandi introduces profound, darker stories and then skates past them. I suspect this is an attempt to reframe the tired tropes, but it ended up feeling more like a fairy tale, undermining those efforts. I honestly thought that Dorothy was lovely, but truthfully, I would not have been surprised if she floated off on an umbrella or popped off in a puff of smoke at the end. It had a dreamy feel to it, which I found jarring with some of the very hefty topics it covered. The result was that I never believed in any of the characters, except for Dorothy, who was a fairy godmother from the start.

Loved this, it rekindled my reading enjoyment, I was making time to read for the first time in years! My new kindle might also have helped. had zero idea of what was going on for the first 70% but it was a great necromancer mystery tour. And I'm more than a little enamoured with Gideon.

Caroline wrote: "Everything counts! Audiobooks definitely. I'm just going in the order they appeared so started Neurodivergent Mind but that might be a one-chapter-at-a-time job."

I'm looking forward to this one actually, as I think it might be helpful for me with E - and ofc lots of people I know! I thought I might audiobook that one. :D

Yay! Thanks both :D

Actually, I already have Gideon the Ninth on my book pile, so I am going to kick off with that :D

I don't know how to choose! I might have to just throw a die, I'm looking forward to getting started. I have an important question, please do not judge me, do audiobook versions count? I LOVE to read, but I often don't have time, audio books are my way through that, but I do feel it's not quite the same to have something read TO you and to read it yourself, but believe you come away with the story in your head and heart either way.