August 21, 2024 – Northcote
This took a long long time to get through. It's been a rough year. It started out slow, introducing all the characters who would eventually weave together into an exciting story about trees and activism and hope and nature and humanity. It ended kind of slowly too, as if it had used up all its energy in the crescendo.
I think I enjoyed it, especially in the middle. But overall I was a little surprised by how some of the stories didn't seem as well thought through. In particular, I had so much interest in Neelay and his game, but that whole arc kind of dwindled into .. something something AI? 😑
Perhaps too many characters were killed or punished. Including Mimas, my favourite; so rich and wild and charming.
Overall it left me in love with trees, and craving more interesting science about them, curious to learn more about their intelligence and communication and how they shape our lives. And sad about the destruction we continue to wreak on this lonely little planet we have taken such egregious advantage of.
I think it's worth a read, and worth the slog, just to remind yourself of how much we owe to plants. 🌱
I had almost the exact same feelings when I read this a while back. It made me love trees and see trees in a completely different light... and it blew me away that way. And I think I loved how it built up and the middle, but yeah, the ending just didn't land for me. Still, grateful for all the trees in it.
I'm also glad to know that I'm not the only one who felt this way about such an awarded-acclaimed book!