Erin reviewed When the emperor was divine by Julie Otsuka
Review of 'When the emperor was divine' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This is maybe 3.5 or 4 stars. The last couple chapters are what make me round it up or lean 4 stars.
I like sparse writing that doesn’t get too heavy handed. I don’t need to be told this or that is bad, it can be shown. And that’s what I got!
I liked that the last couple chapters addressed after the camp. What life was like once they were home again. Things can’t go back to normal, they’ve all been through a traumatic experience. The people around them won’t immediately treat them like they did before. I think a traditional narrative on these events would end when they leave camp and act like we reached a happy ending.
However, there were things I didn’t like. The camp chapter from the boy’s perspective did get repetitive. And overall, I had a little too much distance from the characters, and the …
This is maybe 3.5 or 4 stars. The last couple chapters are what make me round it up or lean 4 stars.
I like sparse writing that doesn’t get too heavy handed. I don’t need to be told this or that is bad, it can be shown. And that’s what I got!
I liked that the last couple chapters addressed after the camp. What life was like once they were home again. Things can’t go back to normal, they’ve all been through a traumatic experience. The people around them won’t immediately treat them like they did before. I think a traditional narrative on these events would end when they leave camp and act like we reached a happy ending.
However, there were things I didn’t like. The camp chapter from the boy’s perspective did get repetitive. And overall, I had a little too much distance from the characters, and the scenes were all so short. I think given the distance from the character’s interiority, I needed to really sit with them in lengthier scenes that showed me something about them to get a sense of who they were. Instead, we jumped from one thing to the next so quickly, I never felt like I got to know anyone. Personally, I prefer it when I am presented with the intensity of feeling in characters. It can be shown rather than told through explicit thoughts, that’s ok. But I didn’t get that here. There were some poignant moments, but most just flew by.
