The Returned

I received this ARC through First Reads from the publisher in exchange of an honest review.

I was really excited about this book. The premise just sounded so amazing! And after having read the book, I can definitely see why some people are raving about it. All of the elements of a good literary novel are there. It's beautifully written, themes of human existentialism, an examination of human nature, etc.

Unfortunately, I found it to be incredibly boring. I was about 3/4 of the way through this book and had to force myself to finish. I doubt I would have finished it if it were not an ARC copy. As it was, I did do a bit of skimming in the middle because OMG NOTHING WAS HAPPENING. I mean, sure, the writing was really beautiful and subtle and all that, but who gives a crap about the writing when FREAKING NOTHING HAPPENS.

I suppose what I said above isn't 100% accurate. Something does happen very very late in the book. I do have to say that the last few chapters are the reason I did not give this one star. The ending was quite good. Rather powerfully, it brought together the underlying themes in the novel. I also liked the extra little excerpts in bold/italics from the points of view of various Returned people. They were probably the most interesting sections in the novel.

Personally, I wasn't exactly sure what I was expecting from the novel, but I at the very least wanted to discover WHY the Returned were there. Or, barring that, HOW they got there. I mean, was it everybody that ever died? Cuz holy hell that's a lot of people.

In the end, I would say that this book is not a bad book. It's just not the book for me.