watermelleon's reviews
249 reviews

If you haven't read this book, read it with as little foresight as possible. Do not read reviews, pass go, sink in unprepared.

If you have read it, read this:
Vague enough spoilers await..

Disclaimer, it's my 4th (. 5?) book by David Mitchell. As a stand alone with no prior knowledge, it is a 5 star read.

If you've read any other David Mitchell novel, it becomes even more special.

This book is a beautifully skilled craftwork jigsaw puzzle, with pieces that snap into place perfectly despite at first being unpredictable. You can start in the centre or form the edges,  or from a corner outwards. It does not matter which order you fill them to get the satisfying conclusion that appears.

An odessey through the 60s, this book is your own personal tour through time, it's glitter and it's failures. It's real, but understands naivety, inspiration, hope and other complicated human feelings.

This novel hinges on the  story of human potential, who we are and who we will become (or who we could be, given the chance). We follow the band reach stardom and everything in between in the peak of their youth, but we also see revisited characters in their younger selves, and the legacy of others long gone, their periods of potential and hope. This 'glory days' epic reminds you there will be an eventual end to these experiences, but they will never leave who you have become in the way they have changed you.

Bone clocks spoiler -

I think back to an older Levon speaking to an older Crispin hersey, both with their own regrets, what they could have done better. At the time, Levon loved his band and forgave them for their youthful incidences. Because of this I expected a fallout, a feud over losing a record deal, a dramatic end, a tour bus that crashed. Instead I was hit with the nature of life - the script doesn't pick and choose favourites, it shoots where it may.

Thoughts and questions that made me existential while reading this book:

A young Crispin Hershey points a finger gun at Dean. And then the writer erases him. 

Is the love between luisa and elf really forever? An older elf writes on amongst the stark cliffs of sheep's head. 

Speaking of Holly Sykes, it's peculiar that she's a gravesend girl too. 

Bolivar is a scary and familiar sight. But what does he want? Is it a call forwards into something new, or someone we have seen before? Who had to die at that point in time to be there? 

"I hope somebody made a quality bootleg of this" 
How popular were utopia avenue then to be forgotten now? Is it a universe teetering on the edge of ours, or a perfect copy? Is another point being made about what happens to David Mitchell's world when it comes to the end of the timeline? 
"it makes you wonder if you've actually been living not in the real world but only a description of it" - 
It is only a script after all. 

Speaking of the end of the world, only some unknown coincidence in hawaii saved utopia avenue's last record.  And a man with impossible technology that almost disappeared from the world in only 50 years. 

I wonder if/when the horologists will show us any possibility of moving through time in order to preserve it, and I wonder if any meddling has taken place so far. 

Griff Griffin. I guess it wasn't his time to be a Protagonist yet. I wonder about Steve also. An important part of the band, written as "an important piece of the puzzle", or a "heartbeat", you're convinced he's important but you're left wondering how. He never thinks out loud to us. It's curious. Or maybe he's just dyslexic and can't write a chapter. 

Why does the cloud atlas sextet sound so familiar to Jasper? 

I wonder what sixsmith was doing at this point in time. 

"How come the rich own the world when they're so bloody useless?" - dean's transition through social class and what remains. The poetry of ordering a boring sandwich as room service. Class was a point of contention initially for dean/griff and elf, seeing their relationships change was a voyage. 

Other things about elf and griff that can be thought and not written. If David Mitchell is Elf, I'm Levon. 

I need to have another cry and talk about this at book club before writing a review here.... I read a huge chunk of this today and it has been nothing but crying my eyes out with little water breaks. my library copy now has mascara smudges on it, nothing I can do about that I guess :s

in short - best book I have read in a long time. it is beautifully written, surprisingly close to home and relatable, generally so informative on topics I new nothing about (that I probably should have!). it has changed my outlook on many perspectives in my life. this is a lifechanging book that I will be recommending to everyone. there are some tough, tough topics but so much hope and nostalgia as well.

on a personal note: This book has allowed me to reflect on my own recently-uprooted family history, and has helped me reflect on that as well the now clear impact of this on my family moving down through the generations.

I wrote a review here and then accidentally deleted the text. It was such a well thought out review as well, I'll be back 😭

Honestly, I was really enjoying this. 

But some things are not sitting right with me ever since I googled Yeonmi and learned more about her new book today. It has said more about what growing up in North Korea can do to a person than this book ever could. (Not invalidating any real experiences she might have shared of course).

I highly suspect that the same person who wrote the blurb for book 2 wrote the foreword. I'll leave it at that for now.

Review pending!

**EDIT**I originally scored a 2.5 but I admittedly did not read the last chapter then and ummm. Ok

Came for the title, stayed for the mystery or something 

I've caught up to the current issue at time of this review (19.2), there is a bit of intrigue with the mystery but the story seems to a bit all over the place! But maybe it's less about the story with this one. It's for this reason you're better off not reading it on webtoon.

So far, impressions are it's a biscuit tin, you know what you're getting. And there is a lot of serious competition out there that does a better job in execution. This being said, the art is great and I have gotten some goosebumps! 

Will I continue to follow it ? Probably not honestly, unless I get a bit bored one day and fancy catching up. 

I am so sad to be at the end of another season! This is so funny, creative and heartwarming at the same time and it has been amazing watching the characters grow and break the fourth wall at comical moments. Season three ended with an incredible twist and I'm dying for more!

Also shout out to mongie for making such a diverse little world, she told me on twitter with no uncertainty that Monica was bi once 🥺