This is one of those books that defies categorization. It’s the messed-up, weirdo love child of sci-fi, fantasy, romance, and dystopian fiction. There’s no way around it; This book is weird. But in a good way. Mostly. And you should know in advance that there’s no way I can summarize it that will do it justice.
The story follows two people, Patricia Delfine and Laurence Armstead, from childhood to adulthood. Their lives intertwine in interesting and important ways even though they’re the yang to each other’s ying. Patricia loves nature and is very possibly a witch while Laurence is all about tech and math. Neither of their upbringings is easy, but everything seems to happen for a reason in their world. I don’t want to give too much away about the plot, so I’m stopping there.
All the Birds in the Sky feels magical when you’re reading it. I highly recommend reading it as quickly as possible if you have a day or two with a lot of free time. I read it over the course of a couple weeks, but I really think my experience would have been even better with fewer interruptions. The story is so expansive and free that it was occasionally difficult to find my way back into the narrative.
This sounds interesting — adding to my TBR list. Thanks for the review!
I am reading this book right now and have been enjoying it a lot. It does defy categorization! I’m not sure how I’ll handle the review.
Can’t wait to read your write up. It was really difficult to sum up my reading experience so I just opted for a short review, but I hope someone else can do a better job :)
Thank you for reminding me to put in my request at the library for this one. I’ve been enjoying Charlie Jane’s columns over on io9 for years and put this on my to read list once I heard about it. I’m excited that you liked it :)
That is an amazing-sounding love child! I’m adding it, too. Thanks!