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A review by thereadingmum
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I get why Anne Patchett is so beloved now.
State of Wonder is a wonderfully crafted novel. She has a strong voice that draws you in and keeps you there so that I was fully invested from start to finish.
Here's the weird thing though. I was reading this and loving it up to chapter 9. Then I decided to listen to the audio so I could continue reading it while cleaning the house and I didn't love it as much. I asked myself, is it the American voice? I don't think so. I've loved lots of audio books read by Americans. So I'm left thinking some books just don't translate as well to audio despite them being well written. This then makes me wonder if I should give The Secret History another chance.
Anyway, this book is amazing and much better than Tom Lake IMO. If you haven't read Patchett at all, I'd start with this one instead. It's not an easy read and has some deep issues but I flew through this because it's so good.
State of Wonder is a wonderfully crafted novel. She has a strong voice that draws you in and keeps you there so that I was fully invested from start to finish.
Here's the weird thing though. I was reading this and loving it up to chapter 9. Then I decided to listen to the audio so I could continue reading it while cleaning the house and I didn't love it as much. I asked myself, is it the American voice? I don't think so. I've loved lots of audio books read by Americans. So I'm left thinking some books just don't translate as well to audio despite them being well written. This then makes me wonder if I should give The Secret History another chance.
Anyway, this book is amazing and much better than Tom Lake IMO. If you haven't read Patchett at all, I'd start with this one instead. It's not an easy read and has some deep issues but I flew through this because it's so good.