I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Unraveling by Karen Lord Published by Daw Books on June 4 2019
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 304
Format: Finished hardcover
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A story with a fascinating premise that is heavy on philosophical musings, this one just didn’t work for me.
This is my first Karen Lord book, and I found out after I finished it that it’s actually set in the same world as Redemption in Indigo. I’m wondering if I might have connected more to the story if I’d read that first, because unfortunately, I really struggled with this book. Readers who need a solid plot to follow are probably going to struggle with this as well, since it’s more of a story of ideas than action. This is one of those rare reviews where I’m not even going to recap the story, because honestly, I’m not sure I understood what was going on enough to do so. Unraveling is a dreamy, almost stream of consciousness tale that really begs for a second reading in order to grasp all its complex parts.
Our main character is a lawyer named Miranda Ecouvo who is snatched away from death by one of the undying, or immortals, a man named Chance. Chance wants Miranda to help him solve a mysterious string of murders, which Miranda does with very little resistance, I was surprised to see. Along with Chance’s brother the Trickster, a man who can turn into a spider, Miranda is taken on a journey through time and memory as she travels through the maze, a construct that allows one to jump off at different points on the timeline. They follow various “threads” to find key people to spy on, which relates to the “unraveling” of the title. But throughout the murder investigation, the characters pause to philosophize over the meaning of life and death and memory, and these frequent side trips left me feeling bored and frustrated.
Lord’s story is detailed and complicated and I’m quite sure masterfully written. However, the non-linear storytelling, as the characters jump from one time to another, trying to solve the murders, was simply baffling to me. All sorts of side characters make an appearance, but many of them are barely in the story at all and I couldn’t figure out how they all tied together. I was also confused by the fact that several of the characters have more than one name, which I’m sure ties back into the mythology aspects of the story. For me, that just added to my overall confusion.
I actually enjoyed the murder mystery parts, which were something familiar to cling to, I guess. The murderer is taking body parts from his victims, a gruesome task that seems to be ritualistic and steeped in mythology. Miranda and her guides are determined to follow every thread and lead to find the truth, and I did like the idea of being able to jump around in time to find out what really happened. But for me, there just wasn’t enough of the “story” to keep me interested for three hundred pages, and when the truth was ultimately revealed, I honestly didn’t care about the results at all.
There are lots of four and five star reviews for Unraveled on Goodreads, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. I’ve heard that fans of Neil Gaiman will love this, which might be part of my problem, because it turns out I’m not a big fan of his. This story takes laser focus to absorb, so if you’re not in the mood to ponder some big ideas about life, or if you’re simply prone to distraction like I am, you might have a similar reading experience.
Thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
I haven’t read a Karen Lord book yet, but Redemption in Indigo and Best of all Possible Worlds are both on my list.
I’m torn on how I feel about this one based on your review. On the one hand- the murder mystery and mythology feel pretty cool! On the other- also not a fan of characters pondering the meaning of life. I’m also not the biggest Gaiman fan (then again, I’ve only read American Gods). Awesome review anyway!
Thanks Sarah, you never know, this could work really well for you. I will definitely read another Karen Lord book in the future:-)
Her stuff is definitely unique at least!
Don’t let this put you off reading Redemption in Indigo – that’s a fab book and not so … philosophical … as this sounds.
That being said, I am so excited to read this book. Even though you didn’t get on with it, you’ve made it sound awesome, and I had no idea it existed until I read your review – so, thank you. 😀
I’m really glad to hear that! And I hope you read and enjoy Unraveling, I’ll be keeping my eye out for your review some day!
I sort of had my eyes on this one but I think I’m going to pass now. Since I was on the fence about picking it up anyway, what you’ve described isn’t something I feel like taking on right now. It sounds confusing and I don’t need any more confusion right now 🙂 You know I have’t read a Gaiman book (don’t tell). I do have Good Omens and would like to read that one but I may even settle for just watching the series on Amazon.
I definitely think you need to be in a certain mood to read this:-)
I’m sorry this one didn’t work for you. Have a feeling it won’t for me either. Great cover though.
Laura Thomas recently posted…Evil Embers by Cristelle Comby ~ Review and Giveaway
The cover is fantastic, right? I didn’t even mention it in my review, but it’s pretty cool and also makes a lot of sense when you read the story.
Thanks for the honest review.
http://www.henatayeb.blogspot.com
Thanks for reading it:-)
I’ve not yet read anything by Karen Lord. This book has been on my TBR, but not high up. Not sure if I’ll get to it. From your review some parts sound interesting, but I’ve also had similar feelings to what you experienced, where there seems to be potential but it just doesn’t work for you. I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve read by Gaiman, though I haven’t read that many. But that does keep me curious about this book. Interesting review, even if the book didn’t quite work.
It might work better for you than me, you never know:-)
The Neil Gaiman comparison is enough to make me hesitate since my luck with his books are so hit or miss. I also have no laser focus so it’s probably not a great fit for me, lol. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it though.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Book Review & Giveaway: SOMETHING LIKE GRAVITY by Amber Smith
I’m determined to try Gaiman again but I didn’t have a great first experience, lol.
I’ve read one book by this author (The Best of All Possible Worlds) and loved it — but when I started this one, I just couldn’t get into it all. Glad to read your review! I don’t think I’ll go back to this book for another try.
Good to know it’s not just me!
I’ve had a hard time clicking with most of Gaiman’s books, too, Tammy. I seem to be able to do better in audio form, especially if he’s reading. It adds to the story for me. Back to this book, you write the most fair and well-balanced reviews. Well done. I hope your next read works better.
I’m learning today that a lot of readers are big Gaiman fans, which really surprises me! I think most people are afraid to admit that, lol.
Dang, I’m not a huge fan of Gaiman either (I think he’s a great writer, but the style of his stories tends to be too weird for me) so I’m a bit worried now, lol. I was planning on tackling Unraveling next month, but maybe I’ll prioritize some other books for now until I feel in the right mood for something like this.
This one is pretty weird, also it’s hard to find the “story” in the maze, so to speak;-)
Mmm, not for me so thanks for the review – although you did make the murder mystery sound really intriguing. I think I’m in a funny space at the moment where if I get off to a bad start with a book it then really struggles to recover. I’ve just had something similar with one of my reads that didn’t work well for me and then I slow down with my reading and end up feeling a bit exasperated with the whole experience – which is so not good.
Lynn 😀
I feel the same way, I think I’m just distracted by life so if a book doesn’t grab me right away, it becomes a struggle.
Non-linear timelines are difficult – and dangerous! – beasts to handle and I believe it takes a great deal of control and skill to manage them well: this does not seem to be the case, unfortunately, and I could hear your puzzlement clearly throughout your review…
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Review: THE CITY SCREAMS (An Ordshaw Novella), by Phil Williams
I’ve kind of wanted to read Karen Lord for a while now, but I may skip this one…or at least be forewarned and read Redemption in Indigo first. Non-linear’s can be tough, I know they sometimes don’t work for me, it all depends on the book. Great review, Tammy!
I’ve been curious about reading Karen Lord’s novels as I really enjoyed her contributions to Tremontaine, but it sounds like this isn’t the place to start 😉
I am actually a huge Neil Gaiman fan so maaaybe I’ll need to try this? 😀 I’m not sure about the philosophizing, but all the twistiness does sound interesting!
I am sorry this one didn’t quite work for you, but I appreciate the warning on being in the right mindset for it. I love waxing poetic on philosophy, but I need to be in the right mood, so I will be sure to plan my reading of this one accordingly. Great review, Tammy!
Kal @ Reader Voracious recently posted…Reading Around the Globe: Olly in England
From the Goodreads description this actually sounds really plotty, so it’s good to know what to expect. Great review!
I look forward to read my first Karen Lord book in the following weeks! Maybe I’ll go for the Redemption in Indigo first!
Thanks. I think I would just get bogged down by this one.
The nonlinear storytelling would probably get pretty much for me, but it does sound interesting!