Friday, July 6, 2012

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Pages: 269pgs

The Story

'It is never what you worry over that comes to pass in the end.

The real catastrophies are always different - unimagined, unprepared for, unknown . . .'

What if our 24-hour day grew longer, first in minutes, then in hours, until day becomes night and night becomes day? What effect would this slowing have on the world? On the birds in the sky, the whales in the sea, the astronauts in space, and on an eleven-year-old girl, grappling with emotional changes in her life...? One morning, Julia and her parents wake up in their suburban home in California to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth is noticeably slowing. The enormity of this is almost beyond comprehension. And yet, even if the world is, in fact, coming to an end, as some assert, day-to-date life must go on. Julia, facing the loneliness and despair of an awkward adolescence, witnesses the impact of this phenomenon on the world, on the community, on her family and on herself.

The Review

A big thanks to Simon & Schuster Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!

This book has received many high praises over the last few months or so and when I received a review copy of this book I was really looking forward to reading it because let's face it . . . I had no idea whatsoever what it was actually about. But when I quickly scanned the plot online, I liked how the storyline reminded me a lot of the film Melancholia were there's a weirdness element to it and the possible chance of the world coming to an end, only everyone around you is not quite sure when or whether it will happen.

THE AGE OF MIRACLES is set in the sunny and southern setting of California. But in a very quiet neighbourhood. Everything seems perfectly normal until "The Slowing" begins, where the Earth is reportedly slowing down and where the days and nights grow longer - longer until the human world soon forgets the 24 hour days. Julia, our main protagonist, is your average eleven-year-old girl when you first meet her and later in the book it's then told through an older Julia whom looks back on the events of "The Slowing".

After putting down this book at the end, I can definitely say I enjoyed the concept and the interesting characters that I was introduced to along the way. The author, Karen Thompson Walker, did an excellent job in describing the unusual events of "The Slowing" and how it affected the population - and Julia in this case - and I even enjoyed how multi-layered this book ended up being like towards the end. But, unlike the fans out there in cyberspace, sadly I found this book was not of my book taste. I mean, I do love some wonderful books with their weird-but-very-original concepts (which this book is in the best possible way), however this book just didn't hit home for me especially with the weak ending it offered. The book contains so many wonders of this changing Earth that we know of today but then all of a sudden the ending changes things . . . not for the better I'm afraid. I was a bit confused. Actually . . . I was confused a lot. But it despite my rating it's still good. Weird but good, only it just wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe it can be yours?

Overall, THE AGE OF MIRACLES was a thought-provoking read that questions everything you could possibly imagine and I would highly recommend this book if you love coming-of-age stories or something along the lines of the post-apocalyptic kind!

The Rating

2/5 stars

12 comments:

  1. Sorry this one was disappointing! I don't think it'd be my cup of tea either, especially because of the weak ending. Plus, I like things to be explained quite clearly so I have a feeling I would be confused too in this one. Thanks for the review!

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    1. Thanks Liz! It does have its good parts . . . but just wasn't my kind of thing.

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  2. I saw what you gave it, and I had to stop by and read your review. It is on my TBR list, and the more you talked about it the more I thought I would like it which is kind of ironic. Great review!

    Beth ^_^
    http://sweetbooksnstuff.blogspot.com/

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    1. That's what happens with me too. The more people say it wasn't their kind of book, the more I want to read it. Hopefully it turns out to be a great book for you.

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  3. I haven't heard much about this, plus I keep confusing it with the Probability of Miracles, a YA book!

    And I have read another review of this and the reader didn't enjoy it very much, so you are not alone! Thanks for giving us such an honest review :)

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    1. LOL. I got it confused with that title too. haha. Yeah There are readers who thought the same as me, so that's good I guess.

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  4. Oh is that what this book is about!! I have it from publisher to read too. Ahhh, ok, interesting. Love your honest thoughts. Helps me decide how far to put it on my schedule:D

    Mich

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    1. It's still a good little book but it was not my usual read.

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  5. Awww, I did really enjoy this one, but I can understand why you found issues with it. I did think the ending was abrupt, though and I wish there had been more development toward it.

    Great review!

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    1. Glad to hear you enjoyed it! It does have some great parts in the book but yeah, I was hoping for more development towards the end.

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  6. I'm kind of intrigued by this one... especially since I really don't know whether I'd like it or not! Sometimes 'weird-but-good' works for me, other times it doesn't. It's a shame it didn't work for you this time, and especially with the ending not hitting the mark.

    Despite it being a so-so read, thanks for putting it on my radar! I am curious enough now to check it out :D Awesome review, Erin!

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    1. Thanks Brodie. It has a lot of great elements this book but just didn't work the way I hoped it would. Still go for it!

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