Status Updates From The Pox Party (The Astonish...

The Poeticness of the prose finally felt like it had a purpose, the descriptions of bondage were excellent and very thought provoking. I liked the ending, and the discussion of slavery and freedom was very well thought out. The ending is ironic, because you know that slavery doesn't end for another 100 years or so. It adds an overlay of sadness to the entire book because you have outside knowledge.

The descriptions of the pox were nauseating and the death of the mother was sad, however I've found it hard to be emotionally attached to any of the characters due to the writing style. I find the change in perspective interesting and I think it humanizes Octavian a bit more because the writing isn't as factual but has more emotion and descriptions.

The themes and context of the book is really interesting: dealing with racism and slavery. However I find the book really slow and a hard to get through, the plot is snail like and I don't find the characters compelling enough to get me to really want to read. If I was reading this on my own I most likely would drop it.

The pros is quite elevated and written in a historical manner. I'm enjoying the underlying ideas of race, the time period and how the perspective is used: things that are absurd being treated as normal.

Not loving this, only because I zone out while I’m reading it sometimes…I thought this was a totally different kind of story.

The narration is struggling to give the character a sence of place in its writing. It’s mostly him reflecting and retelling stories, and a lot of the writing is in old English style with “spake” instead of spoke, or “hath,” “thou,” “couldst.” I feel bored.

I have a whole shelf of historical fiction at home and I feel like it’s one of my least delved in genres. The stories intrigue me, but I haven’t really given them a chance. This one has been staring at me at my reading nook, giving it a try