A God in Ruins (Todd Family, #2) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jun 04, 2015 Jenny rated it it was amazing

I have to say I’m a bit in awe of Kate Atkinson’s writing prowess. This novel sucked me in, gave me a dose of existential angst, made me laugh, and then made me cry. Atkinson plays a lot with form here, just as she did in Life after Life, but it works because the characters are just so wonderfully and frustratingly real.

In Life after Life, Atkinson tells the story of Ursula Todd who dies and is reborn numerous times in the novel as she works her way toward and through World War II. It’s like Gro I have to say I’m a bit in awe of Kate Atkinson’s writing prowess. This novel sucked me in, gave me a dose of existential angst, made me laugh, and then made me cry. Atkinson plays a lot with form here, just as she did in Life after Life, but it works because the characters are just so wonderfully and frustratingly real.

In Life after Life, Atkinson tells the story of Ursula Todd who dies and is reborn numerous times in the novel as she works her way toward and through World War II. It’s like Groundhog Day only Ursula’s main focus is not getting it right so she can get it on with Andie MacDowell. It’s something much larger. In A God in Ruins, Atkinson returns to the Todd family but this time she focuses in on Teddy, Ursula’s younger brother, who serves as a pilot running bombing raids over Germany during the war.

Though the story returns again and again to descriptions of Teddy’s experiences during the war, it also moves back and forward in time. We see moments from Teddy’s childhood and teenage years. We also see how his life unfolds after the war, when he marries his childhood sweetheart, Nancy, and has a daughter, Viola. The novel dances and loops between moments in time, sometimes so quickly that I had to stop and re-read a section. We see the parent that Viola becomes and the effects she has on her children (Teddy’s grandchildren), Sonny and Bertie. Atkinson gives us a rich feel for each moment in time she pauses at—whether it’s in the 1940’s, the 1960’s, or 2012.

Teddy is the calm and lovely center of this chaos and though he is not perfect, he comes across as a solidly good man—one who tries to love and be kind no matter what life throws him. Watching him age and move from house to assisted living to nursing home is just one small tragedy set against the larger tragedy of World War II and all the young men and women who died—some in battle and even more during training (shades of Unbroken here). There’s a lot to grapple with in this novel and the ending is a powerful blow to the gut (yes, I cried . . . a lot) but I’m so glad I read it. It made me think about life, death, and the power of fiction. What more can you ask for?
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Aug 25, 2015 Sarah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: england, historical-fiction, wwii, fiction

I didn't want this book to end, but couldn't put it down either. A God in Ruins is the companion book to Life After Life, which I liked a lot but didn't love. It isn't necessarily a sequel, and it could stand alone, but I think the reader would benefit from that story first. And maybe it was my disjointed reading of Life After Life that detracted from my enjoyment of that novel, but I really loved this one.
Where Life After Life is Ursula Todd's story, this is about her beloved younger brother, ...more

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Aug 17, 2015 Jenny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015

I don't really quite know how to describe the book other than 'tragically beautiful', to steal from Galinda in Wicked.

A God in Ruins is companion novel to Life After Life, which I read and didn't like as much as this book. It's a novel that will stay with you; I want to start it over and read it again. ...more

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May 05, 2015 Kate rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

I picked this book up mostly because I'm a sucker for companion books/sequels, but to be honest, I was not really looking forward to reading it. I did not enjoy Life After Life all that much, so I thought this was going to be a 400+ page slog. To my pleasant surprise, however, it was not a slog. It was really enjoyable and captivating. Teddy's life was so compelling and it was interesting to see how the choices he made in the war affected him long term.

I did enjoy the slight nod at the very end ...more

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Jul 01, 2015 Alison marked it as unfinished · review of another edition

Shelves: dcpl_elibrary, fiction

I got a little less than a quarter of the way into this and then decided to stop. I just was not interested in the main character that much, and the story was really plodding along. Maybe it gets better further in, but I just didn't feel compelled to keep going. ...more

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