Migrations

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

This thread is to discuss Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy.

Pages: 256 pages

Length: 1 month (August)

Participants: Valerie, Lorraine, Cordelia, Beth, Surabhi

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

[Surabhi]

Hello guys!
I will start this book on 1st August.
How about you all ?

[Lorraine]

Hello Surabhi
I might start around July 28-29th. Looking forward to it.

[Valerie]

I’ll also be starting this around the beginning of the month. Looking forward to seeing how it compares to Wild Dark Shore and Once There Were Wolves

[Valerie]

Read the first 4 chapters. It’s a heady mix of mystery and secrets so far along with an offbeat group of characters on a perilous journey. Certainly plenty to intrigue and draw in the reader along with its environmental message.

[Valerie]

Part One. There are a lot of different threads going on and with the added movement between past periods and the present it’s quite difficult to get my head around it all. Definitely silences and secrets are pivotal to the plot in this novel. I have a couple of suspicions and theories but still plenty to be revealed as the author drip feeds us new information.

[M]

This book absolutely devastated me and is my favorite of her works (with Wild Dark Shore a close second).
I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

[Surabhi]

I’m yet to begin this !
I will take another day to start reading this book.
But seeing all your comments has got me excited

[Valerie]

Part two. Well that was a wild and desperate ride. Surprising, unexpected and quite gripping. (view spoiler)[ The suicide of her mother was a shock but I suppose it’s quite common for traumatic memories to be suppressed. I was surprised by the support she got from the crew but it (and Basil’s betrayal) was made believable. I find her relationship with Niall less understandable but maybe things will become clearer. She certainly creates waves of chaos and destruction in her wake - wondering if a positive outcome is possible. (hide spoiler)]
Let’s see how this all plays out in the final part.

[Valerie]

Finished. I was not sure how she was going to end the novel but the way she chose worked for me. (view spoiler)[ I was glad she finished with just enough positive to be realistic rather than fatalistic. Humans really are the problem but just maybe we can try to contribute to a solution.
I had guessed that Niall was dead but I’m glad she decided to complete her journey to scatter his ashes and then drag herself back to life rather than join him. Overall I thought the author balanced the mystery and adventure with the message well. I do however feel that there was a bit of an overload of trauma in Franny’s life that felt a little unnecessary and cruel but damaged protagonists do seem to be her preferred sort! (hide spoiler)]
Moving and mystifying, this novel definitely kept me hooked to the end.

[Surabhi]

I just finished the first chapter and I’m already so invested.
Never came across a topic such as what the book suggests, so I’m excited to read it further :)

[Surabhi]

Oh I loved chapter 4. Damn interesting. Taking us back to the life of Franny. It’s because of this chapter I’m excited to read the boom further.

[M]

I hope you continue to enjoy it Surabhi :)

I need to read this again with a kindle so I can highlight the heck out of it. I think this novel includes some of my favorite McConaghy's passages.

"He said our lives mean nothing except as a cycle of regeneration, that we are incomprehensibly brief sparks, just as the animals are, that we are no more important than they are, no more worthy of life than any living creature. That in our self-importance, in our search for meaning, we have forgotten how to share the planet that gave us life.”

[Beth]

I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as the rest of you did. I did enjoy how everything came together at the end but OMG what a slog to get there. Is this book really only 250 pages long?

I think three things impacted me.

1. I rarely do well with literary fiction. Nothing ever seems to happen!
2. I listened to the audiobook. I may have been better served by reading it in another format.
3. It was sooo depressing. So so so depressing.

I loved Wild Dark Shore (5 stars for me) and Once There Were Wolves (4 stars). I'll likely settle on a 3 for this one just because the ending came together well.

[Valerie]

Beth wrote: "I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as the rest of you did. I did enjoy how everything came together at the end but OMG what a slog to get there. Is this book really only 250 pages long?

I thin..."
I think we probably should have read her books in the order she wrote them rather than in reverse. In that case you gave her 3*,4*, 5* as she developed as a writer. I agree that this one was the weakest of the three although I still enjoyed it.

[Lorraine]

I finished Migrations a while ago but waited before writing my comments, as I wasn’t sure whether to give it a 3 or a 4. I’m still hesitant, but I’m leaning towards a 3. (view spoiler)[Like Beth, I found the book long and often wondered where the story was heading. Unlike the other two books I’ve read by this author, I didn’t feel any connection to the main character. I couldn’t understand what she wanted, where she was going, or whether she was a victim or, conversely, an abuser. In short, I didn’t like her very much. The ending did redeem the book somewhat, and for that I’m grateful. I think Valerie is right—we probably should have read her books in the order they were published, rather than in reverse, as I find her latest work more complete. (hide spoiler)]