The Age of Miracles
Ratings68
Average rating3.6
This reminded me a lot of Life As We Know It. Also about a world changing /ending told from a young girls perspective. It's very well written and it kind of pulls you along.
I didn't connect with this book in the way I anticipated, partially because I read this book in the year that is 2020 (global pandemic, catastrophic climate events, civil unrest, general uncertainty about everything). If I could read this again when I could escape into Julia's world without feeling like it parallels life so much, I might connect with the story better and truly appreciate the writing. Karen has an excellent writing style, and I'd like to try reading some of her other books.
Good book but too much about the everyday life and not enough about why everything is happening.
Good one. I found myself dreaming in the book's premise- an ever slowing rotation of the earth. I like the idea of the young protagonist dealing with her own problems while the world falls apart around her.
A quiet apocalyptic novel that is haunting and sad. A beautiful coming-of-age story set during the end of the world. Families are still complicated, mean girls are still mean, and people still fall in love. It makes you appreciate what we have, and how quickly it can all change.
A beautiful book. Some sentences I read three or four times because the wording was so elegant. I really can't summarize this book any better than Amiee Bender did when she said “The Age of Miracles spins its glowing magic through incredibly lucid and honest prose, giving equal care and dignity to the small spheres and the large. It is at once a love letter to the world as we know it and an elegy.”
Quick read with some really nice writing – I knew instantly the author knew San Diego as her descriptions of our part of California rang very true, and I loved some of her metaphors. Overall it would have been nice to have more effort made at possible causes for the earth's slowing and more growth and depth but overall I would recommend it.
Imaginative premise and I think it would have succeeded as a YA novel but, for my taste, the characterization felt too thin. It's similar in mood to Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, another novel that left me feeling emotionally manipulated and intellectually unsatisfied. But despite its flaws, the story raised enough narrative questions to sustain my interest.
I picked this up because I had seen some good reviews, but didn't find this an enjoyable read. The characters were not likable in any way, and the novel itself moved from one depressing scene to another. I think the author shows promise, but did not find this to be a good read for me.
You know, I was not going to read this because I about at my limit of dystopian novels. Seriously. But, I saw this compared to Into the Forest, and as that is one of my favorite novels EVER, I had to find out why.
i do wonder if I am describing this correctly: Is a book dystopian when it takes place during the transition to a dystopian world?
The Age of Miracles is really a coming of age story about Julia, age 12, and how her family is dealing with the fact that the Earth is gaining time. “The Slowing” results in many natural disasters, but through them Julia is also dealing with changes in her relationships with her friends, her family, and how she views the world.
All of the characters are multi-layered and well presented. At one point, I remember thinking- if Wes Anderson made and end of the world movie, this would be it. There are scenes in this book that will make your heart hurt. Julia is dealing with a loneliness that is isolating. I loved Grandpa and Seth.
I highly recommend this one. It has a similar feel to Into the Forest (I will agree), and a voice that reminded me of Lovely Bones. I think this one will be a crossover for YA as well.
It sort of surprises me that this is popping on so many “best” lists for this year. I was not impressed. In terms of “end of the world” books, this was neither very frightening nor interesting. I would hate for this sort of thing to happen, of course, but I really didn't connect with anyone in the story and thus did not care about what happened to them.