Helpful Score: 5
THE AGE OF MIRACLES just wasn't for me. The premise of the earth slowing its rotation for no reason scientists can tell was very interesting, but the execution was not.
The adult narrator takes you back to when "the slowing" first began, when she was 11, and I found the narrative very flat and disengaging, it didn't hold my interest at all.
The pace was very slow with a lot of little day-to-day details and descriptions bogging down the pace of the plot. And when something interesting did happen, you were half asleep and too uninterested to notice. I read the first 50 pages, then skimmed to see how it ended.
The writing style wasn't my cup of book, but this may be a great read for teenagers.
The adult narrator takes you back to when "the slowing" first began, when she was 11, and I found the narrative very flat and disengaging, it didn't hold my interest at all.
The pace was very slow with a lot of little day-to-day details and descriptions bogging down the pace of the plot. And when something interesting did happen, you were half asleep and too uninterested to notice. I read the first 50 pages, then skimmed to see how it ended.
The writing style wasn't my cup of book, but this may be a great read for teenagers.
Helpful Score: 4
I am thoroughly disappointed with this book. It's from the perspective of a tweenager in middle school during the end of the world. It sounds like a good idea- a coming of age story around an international crisis- but its execution is majorly flawed. The main character speaks in unintended prose and every paragraph ends with an overdramatic and unnecessary overgeneralization about life. For example: "My mother waited in car at the curb until the bus arrived, convinced that danger, like potatoes, breeds in the dark." Potatoes. What. And another melodramatic observation: "Grown under similar conditions, we had become very different, two specimens of girlhood, now diverging." At the end of every paragraph you will find the 12 year old philosopher making another angsty claim about nothing at all. The book is supposed to be creepy, but I found myself laughing at the botched construction of the sentences. "And how miraculous it would soon seem that I was once a happier girl, less lonely and less shy. But I guess every bygone era takes on a shade of myth. With a little persuasion, any familiar thing can turn abnormal in the mind." There's too much foreshadowing, too. 99% of the sentences are either philosophical musings provoked by nothing or foreshadowing for events that either don't happen or are too small to require foreshadowing. The only reason I made it through the book was the hope that it would get better, which it didn't. By the time I was halfway through, I figured that I might as well finish it seeing as how I had come so far. Nothing happens in the book. I wanted to give a fair warning to anyone considering reading this book. Don't.
Helpful Score: 4
This is a coming of age story authentically narrated by Julia, a middle school student living with her parents in California. The usual adolescent angst is there: first love, shifting friendship, first bra. The unusual part is that the story is set against the uncertainty of a world that is literally slowing down. There's more promise than greatness in the novel, but still a worthwhile read.
Helpful Score: 4
This book frustrated me by having such an interesting premise and failing to follow through in execution. The pace of the story, mirroring the length of days, was at times painfully slow and the plot never seemed to go anywhere. The writing style and idea were unique enough that I would try another book by the author in the future, but this one just didn't do it for me.
Helpful Score: 3
This was a very interesting book, to say the least. It starts off right away, no holds bar and gets right down to it....the earth's rotation is slowing down. Birds start dying, then plants, animals, etc.
This story is told out the eyes of a girl named Julia, who is looking back on the beginning of the slowing and how her life has to change and evolve over the course of about a year or so. We see how she and her friends and parents deal with the slowing and her relationship with a boy named Seth. Julia and Seth share a sweet little romance, but in the end, parishes, unfortunately.
Julia mainly focuses on how the slowing effects her life and the people around her, not so much the world as a whole, which I get. She's a teenager and teenagers are typically self-centered and don't focus on much of anything other than their own lives. But, I was left wanting to know more of what happened to other parts of the world due to the slowing and was left wondering what would I do if this actually happened. I even wanted to know more about Circadia and how these "Real Timers" coped with the slowing. I had a lot of questions, and they never seemed to be answered.
I thought the ending was a really lame. We jump from Julia being young tweenager, 11-12 years old, to all of a sudden she's 23. Whaaaatttt???? There is just way too much time in between there that is left unsaid and then the story is done. Just done... Like that......Left hanging there. I read the last chapter and looked around dumbfounded. What the heck!?! Not good, in my opinion.
The rest of the book was great, but the ending was horrid. So disappointing. I feel this story had so much potential to be a fantastic story, but I was just left feeling flat. 3.5 out of 5 stars for me because of the poor ending. I am glad I read it though.
This story is told out the eyes of a girl named Julia, who is looking back on the beginning of the slowing and how her life has to change and evolve over the course of about a year or so. We see how she and her friends and parents deal with the slowing and her relationship with a boy named Seth. Julia and Seth share a sweet little romance, but in the end, parishes, unfortunately.
Julia mainly focuses on how the slowing effects her life and the people around her, not so much the world as a whole, which I get. She's a teenager and teenagers are typically self-centered and don't focus on much of anything other than their own lives. But, I was left wanting to know more of what happened to other parts of the world due to the slowing and was left wondering what would I do if this actually happened. I even wanted to know more about Circadia and how these "Real Timers" coped with the slowing. I had a lot of questions, and they never seemed to be answered.
I thought the ending was a really lame. We jump from Julia being young tweenager, 11-12 years old, to all of a sudden she's 23. Whaaaatttt???? There is just way too much time in between there that is left unsaid and then the story is done. Just done... Like that......Left hanging there. I read the last chapter and looked around dumbfounded. What the heck!?! Not good, in my opinion.
The rest of the book was great, but the ending was horrid. So disappointing. I feel this story had so much potential to be a fantastic story, but I was just left feeling flat. 3.5 out of 5 stars for me because of the poor ending. I am glad I read it though.
Helpful Score: 1
The Earth, normally predictably rotating, decides to not be so predictable any more. No one knows why. The days begin to be longer--just by a few minutes at first. Then, by a little more and a little more. Day and night are no longer reliable.
What happens to the astronauts at the space station?
What happens to crops?
And the main question of this book--what happens to an average person?
Julia, a typical 11 year old, lives with her family and this book is about her coming of age at a time when the planet is falling apart. The uncertainty of adolescence with the uncertainty of the Earth's rotation forms one of the main parallels of this book. She falls in love (more uncertainty) and tries to live in this ever-changing world.
There is conflict between those that want to live "by the clock", observing normal time no matter what the sky seems to say. And those who would rather live by the new natural order of things. I found myself wondering which I would be.
This a is quiet book. There are no big action-filled plot arcs, no attempts to lasso Earth, no shooting and looting. Just a story about a girl trying to find her place in the world that may no longer be a viable choice.
For parents/teachers: Sometimes, it is hard to gauge whether a book is appropriate for a given age level. There is a bit of profanity (the F word), some discussion of wearing a bra, some romance (just kissing), and some discussion of adultery.
Very enjoyable.
What happens to the astronauts at the space station?
What happens to crops?
And the main question of this book--what happens to an average person?
Julia, a typical 11 year old, lives with her family and this book is about her coming of age at a time when the planet is falling apart. The uncertainty of adolescence with the uncertainty of the Earth's rotation forms one of the main parallels of this book. She falls in love (more uncertainty) and tries to live in this ever-changing world.
There is conflict between those that want to live "by the clock", observing normal time no matter what the sky seems to say. And those who would rather live by the new natural order of things. I found myself wondering which I would be.
This a is quiet book. There are no big action-filled plot arcs, no attempts to lasso Earth, no shooting and looting. Just a story about a girl trying to find her place in the world that may no longer be a viable choice.
For parents/teachers: Sometimes, it is hard to gauge whether a book is appropriate for a given age level. There is a bit of profanity (the F word), some discussion of wearing a bra, some romance (just kissing), and some discussion of adultery.
Very enjoyable.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a very imaginative coming of age novel.
Julia is dealing with the usual drama of adolescence. However, along with the social order of peers, issues of falling in love, and parental drama, she has bigger concerns.
The news reports that the rotation of the Earth seems to be slowing down. Time has shifted, causing the clocks to use the 24-hour system. Kids are going to school in the dark. Time crawls.
Beautifully written, this novel makes the reader think. It also makes you feel for a young girl who is trying to make sense of changes within herself, those around her, life, and a world that is somehow spinning very wrong.
Julia is dealing with the usual drama of adolescence. However, along with the social order of peers, issues of falling in love, and parental drama, she has bigger concerns.
The news reports that the rotation of the Earth seems to be slowing down. Time has shifted, causing the clocks to use the 24-hour system. Kids are going to school in the dark. Time crawls.
Beautifully written, this novel makes the reader think. It also makes you feel for a young girl who is trying to make sense of changes within herself, those around her, life, and a world that is somehow spinning very wrong.
This is the story of Julia, an 11 year old single child living in California when the world as she knows it begins to change. The Earth suddenly and inexplicably begins to slow it's rotation and the days and nights begin to lengthen, having impacts on everything from the birds in the sky, the whales in the ocean, and even to astronauts in space. The book is told from the perspective of Julia as a young adult, looking back on this time in her life. Some reviewers have given this story bad ratings for problems with scientific credibility. This is interesting to me, because I read an interview with the author who said that she vetted this book with an astrophysicist who deemed the book entirely credible. She said that she only made minor changes to the book on the advice of the scientist. Regardless, this book is a work of fiction and should be regarded as such. It is also an amazingly written work of fiction that reads like an elegy and should be read by everyone.
This is one of the saddest books I've ever read and I became very emotional during the final bit. The last line made me burst into tears. What I felt was due in no way to the characters, but instead to humanity, which the author did an astounding job capturing. Human feelings and our entire existence is so fleeting in the grand scheme of things. I'm getting weepy just writing this.
The main character, Julia, is supposedly 11 at the time of The Slowing, when the Earth slows its axial rotation, bit by bit. She celebrates her 12th birthday during the course of the story. She acts and speaks like no other 11- or 12-year old on Earth. Had the author made her 15, turning 16, she would have been believable. This is the only problem I have with the book.
Ignoring for the most part how other countries dealt with The Slowing, this focused entirely on the United States, including its attempted solutions to the problem. But even government couldn't keep up with the rapid changes to the human body and its adaptation (or lack thereof). Also affected were animals, weather, the magnetic fieldeverything you think could be affected was, and in ways you wouldn't imagine.
I could deal with the angsty Julia and her blooming relationship with Seth because of the steady trickle of information she released during her narration.
I thought this novel would lighten my spirits, due to its title, but don't expect it to. You're not making the mark you think you are. For me, I feel nothing but anomie. Humankind is *sigh*
The main character, Julia, is supposedly 11 at the time of The Slowing, when the Earth slows its axial rotation, bit by bit. She celebrates her 12th birthday during the course of the story. She acts and speaks like no other 11- or 12-year old on Earth. Had the author made her 15, turning 16, she would have been believable. This is the only problem I have with the book.
Ignoring for the most part how other countries dealt with The Slowing, this focused entirely on the United States, including its attempted solutions to the problem. But even government couldn't keep up with the rapid changes to the human body and its adaptation (or lack thereof). Also affected were animals, weather, the magnetic fieldeverything you think could be affected was, and in ways you wouldn't imagine.
I could deal with the angsty Julia and her blooming relationship with Seth because of the steady trickle of information she released during her narration.
I thought this novel would lighten my spirits, due to its title, but don't expect it to. You're not making the mark you think you are. For me, I feel nothing but anomie. Humankind is *sigh*
What a depressing read, I wanted so badly to like it but the story didn't develop well. I waited and waited for something else to happen after all Earth is dying. I am left depressed and looking for a better way to end the book. The elements were there, good Sci Fi, very likeable characters so I don't know why it disappointed me so badly. I removed it from my wish list.
Beautifully written.... wonderfully told story.... Those two statements are not usually used to describe a book about a type of natural disaster but this is no ordinary story.... It's an account, told through the eyes of an 11 year old girl, of what happens when the rotation of the Earth begins to slow down.... I loved it! Fascinating and absorbing and heartfelt
It was an interesting story of a girl who's life completely changed. EntertIning and sad, but well written and good!
Why was this book heavily recommended to me? I liked the intriguing premise, but oh my goodness, it doesn't go anywhere! F for conclusion! I thought the very title hinted at a happy ending, a miracle, but no.....
Imagine what would happen if the earth's rotation slowed and kept slowing. The days and and the nights as we know them would lengthen. Eventually, as the slowing continued, so again would the length of our days and nights. This is what happens in this wonderfully told story by Karen Thompson. Everything changes, plants and animals die off from too much heat or cold - light and dark to the extreme... This story, as told by a young woman's memory through it all, grabs you. I couldn't put this book down.
I was putting off reading this book after I read the reviews on here but I'm SOOOO glad I read it. It was a short easy read, about a day and a half. It made me think a lot about the unprecedented situation we're in now with Covid 19. I though the story was very well told and thought out. I loved Julia, the main character and how she was so true to herself. It definitely pulled at my heart strings. I thought it was phenomenal, especially since it was Walkers first book.
This is science fiction lite, which is completely fine with me. Although the story is obviously shaped by the fact that the earth's rotation is slowing for unknown reasons, and all the many repercussions of that change, underneath it all, this is a coming-of-age story.
The story begins when Julia is eleven, on the day people realize the earth's rotation is slowing, that a full day is now closer to 25 hours. The main action takes place within that first year as the days continue to lengthen, but with heavy, heavy foreshadowing: everything from how long it would be until she saw her friend again to the last time she ate pineapple or grapes. To be honest, it got on my nerves. But that was the main detraction from the novel, so I can't complain too much.
Overall, it was a sweet, sad story about growing up and finding your place in the world. I like Julia -- her awkwardness, her inability to fake it just to fit in. Apparently, this isn't intended for younger readers (I found it shelved in new adult fiction at the library), but I think a lot of middle schoolers could really relate to Julia. (There's one f-bomb that I remember -- said by another 11-year-old and seriously deserved in my opinion -- but otherwise the language and content is very tame.)
The story begins when Julia is eleven, on the day people realize the earth's rotation is slowing, that a full day is now closer to 25 hours. The main action takes place within that first year as the days continue to lengthen, but with heavy, heavy foreshadowing: everything from how long it would be until she saw her friend again to the last time she ate pineapple or grapes. To be honest, it got on my nerves. But that was the main detraction from the novel, so I can't complain too much.
Overall, it was a sweet, sad story about growing up and finding your place in the world. I like Julia -- her awkwardness, her inability to fake it just to fit in. Apparently, this isn't intended for younger readers (I found it shelved in new adult fiction at the library), but I think a lot of middle schoolers could really relate to Julia. (There's one f-bomb that I remember -- said by another 11-year-old and seriously deserved in my opinion -- but otherwise the language and content is very tame.)
The Age of Miracles is a very interesting book. It's a coming-of-age slice of American girlhood wrapped up in an very quiet apocalyptic story, and it makes for a surprising juxtaposition. There is the developing panic of global proportions caused by the slowing of the Earth's rotation, but also quieter moments of preteen fear over very normal concerns -- first loves, failing friendships, fitting in -- that are almost as poignant as the big, overarching story of ecological disaster.
As a narrator, 11-yr-old Julia is heart-wrenching. Her world is quite literally falling apart in every way possible. A global natural phenomenon has tipped world markets and governments on their ear, but in Julia's house, lies and infidelity have rocked her personal life even more brutally. Religious differences, "day time" versus "clock time" and dangerous polarizations throughout the neighborhood have further chipped away at normal life.
Overall, I enjoyed the story -- although, personally, I don't generally enjoy or seek out stories about this period of adolescence. Living through it once was enough for me. My biggest complaint about the book was the pacing was a little slow, and lots of the adults are unlikeable and unsympathetic. However, the writing is sensitive and lovely, and in Julia, Walker has created a young voice that is resilient and honest. I would love to read a follow up of Julia's adult life after the slowing, to see how she, and the Earth, have fared.
As a narrator, 11-yr-old Julia is heart-wrenching. Her world is quite literally falling apart in every way possible. A global natural phenomenon has tipped world markets and governments on their ear, but in Julia's house, lies and infidelity have rocked her personal life even more brutally. Religious differences, "day time" versus "clock time" and dangerous polarizations throughout the neighborhood have further chipped away at normal life.
Overall, I enjoyed the story -- although, personally, I don't generally enjoy or seek out stories about this period of adolescence. Living through it once was enough for me. My biggest complaint about the book was the pacing was a little slow, and lots of the adults are unlikeable and unsympathetic. However, the writing is sensitive and lovely, and in Julia, Walker has created a young voice that is resilient and honest. I would love to read a follow up of Julia's adult life after the slowing, to see how she, and the Earth, have fared.
11-year-old Julia tells the story beginning on a normal Saturday when news of "the slowing" first occurs and leads us through the devastating consequences. (Though we never learn the source of the slowing.) It is a very personal story as her world changes her family, friends, neighbors and all of humanity. It is a coming of age story with some of the everyday middle school issues, but in a world where everything is uncertain. It is a story of family. In the end, it is more of a beautiful tale of mankind and who we are. Moving and unique.
I'm honestly torn on how I feel about this book. It's a great and very interesting subject, what would happen if the earth stopped spinning? The story is told from an eleven year old girl's point of view, and that was odd because she seemed much older than eleven. Sad, touching and at times really fatalistic. Hmmm.
This is a very sad and yet beautiful book. Yes, it moves slowly. Yes, things remain unexplained. But the characters are realistic, the writing is descriptive. In some ways it is a coming of age story and in that sense it is well done. I think the fact that nothing ever happened, as other readers have complained, made it more real for me. Just day to day life in the voice of a young teen on a dying planet.
I am really trying to decide what to write about this book without giving anything away. I think it was an interesting read about a near enough future. Besides the story of the earth slowing which changed the length of the days, it discussed what it would be like as the human race continued to lose needed resources. It made me wonder whether it was trying to push a little of the global warming attitudes without actually saying it. So many books these days push political agendas at you that I try to steer away from them. This had some of that but not enough to make me feel uncomfortable. All in all it was a good story and I am glad that I read it. I will be passing it on to friends....
BORING! This book went no where, the science was bad, there wasn't an outcome..How this got on any ones best sellers list is a mystery.
This is one of the saddest books I've ever read and I became very emotional during the final bit. The last line made me burst into tears. What I felt was due in no way to the characters, but instead to humanity, which the author did an astounding job capturing. Human feelings and our entire existence is so fleeting in the grand scheme of things. I'm getting weepy just writing this.
The main character, Julia, is supposedly 11 at the time of The Slowing, when the Earth slows its axial rotation, bit by bit. She celebrates her 12th birthday during the course of the story. She acts and speaks like no other 11- or 12-year old on Earth. Had the author made her 15, turning 16, she would have been believable. This is the only problem I have with the book.
Ignoring for the most part how other countries dealt with The Slowing, this focused entirely on the United States, including its attempted solutions to the problem. But even government couldn't keep up with the rapid changes to the human body and its adaptation (or lack thereof). Also affected were animals, weather, the magnetic fieldeverything you think could be affected was, and in ways you wouldn't imagine.
I could deal with the angsty Julia and her blooming relationship with Seth because of the steady trickle of information she released during her narration.
I thought this novel would lighten my spirits, due to its title, but don't expect it to. You're not making the mark you think you are. For me, I feel nothing but anomie. Humankind is
The main character, Julia, is supposedly 11 at the time of The Slowing, when the Earth slows its axial rotation, bit by bit. She celebrates her 12th birthday during the course of the story. She acts and speaks like no other 11- or 12-year old on Earth. Had the author made her 15, turning 16, she would have been believable. This is the only problem I have with the book.
Ignoring for the most part how other countries dealt with The Slowing, this focused entirely on the United States, including its attempted solutions to the problem. But even government couldn't keep up with the rapid changes to the human body and its adaptation (or lack thereof). Also affected were animals, weather, the magnetic fieldeverything you think could be affected was, and in ways you wouldn't imagine.
I could deal with the angsty Julia and her blooming relationship with Seth because of the steady trickle of information she released during her narration.
I thought this novel would lighten my spirits, due to its title, but don't expect it to. You're not making the mark you think you are. For me, I feel nothing but anomie. Humankind is
3.5 out of 5 stars - The slowing...
What happens to the world when the days simply start to get longer and the earth no longer turns every 24 hours? What changes do we see in the lives and behavior of the human and animal kingdoms? And how will the flora and fauna be affected by the changing levels of light? In this "end of the world as we know it" novel, reactions are varied because the reason for the change and the questions about what is to come cannot be answered by anyone in the scientific community. Despite the point of view from the eyes and level of understanding of a middle school girl, the story is interesting and engaging.
Julie and her parents live in California on a quiet cul-de-sac in a nondescript suburb when news of the lengthening of days is announced on television one ordinary Saturday morning in October. After an initial panic and widespread disaster preparedness, families, communities and nations settle into a kind of watchful complacency. The US government orders the population to "clock time" but the rebels want to live using dark and light as their guide. Eventually those free timers become outcasts as the days inexorably lengthen and that's when the changes occur that affect daily life and all living things on the planet.
I really enjoyed the details about how the slowing affected principals of gravity, magnetic fields, weather and temperature, and health and welfare of the planet's inhabitants. The book was riddled, however, with melodramatic foreshadowing and portents of doom! Julia comes of age as more an observer rather than an active participant in the story. Her age progression from 11 to 23 at the end is sudden! I would guess this is suitable for older teens and might make a great young adult book club book. It does make one think about how to contact far flung family and friends should modern methods of communication not be available!
I'd recommend this to anyone who likes end of the world scenarios because this one is a little different using a novel concept of the cause of demise. How do Julie and her family fare? What happens to our planet, Earth? Read it and find out!
What happens to the world when the days simply start to get longer and the earth no longer turns every 24 hours? What changes do we see in the lives and behavior of the human and animal kingdoms? And how will the flora and fauna be affected by the changing levels of light? In this "end of the world as we know it" novel, reactions are varied because the reason for the change and the questions about what is to come cannot be answered by anyone in the scientific community. Despite the point of view from the eyes and level of understanding of a middle school girl, the story is interesting and engaging.
Julie and her parents live in California on a quiet cul-de-sac in a nondescript suburb when news of the lengthening of days is announced on television one ordinary Saturday morning in October. After an initial panic and widespread disaster preparedness, families, communities and nations settle into a kind of watchful complacency. The US government orders the population to "clock time" but the rebels want to live using dark and light as their guide. Eventually those free timers become outcasts as the days inexorably lengthen and that's when the changes occur that affect daily life and all living things on the planet.
I really enjoyed the details about how the slowing affected principals of gravity, magnetic fields, weather and temperature, and health and welfare of the planet's inhabitants. The book was riddled, however, with melodramatic foreshadowing and portents of doom! Julia comes of age as more an observer rather than an active participant in the story. Her age progression from 11 to 23 at the end is sudden! I would guess this is suitable for older teens and might make a great young adult book club book. It does make one think about how to contact far flung family and friends should modern methods of communication not be available!
I'd recommend this to anyone who likes end of the world scenarios because this one is a little different using a novel concept of the cause of demise. How do Julie and her family fare? What happens to our planet, Earth? Read it and find out!
Very interesting story and well told. The why of the disaster is never known and that doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility. There is no suspense and no surprise in the ending because of the way the story is told. That doesn't take away from the story. Another reviewer said that Julia seem more 14 turning 15 than 11 turning 12 and I have to agree with that. Julia was simply too grown for her age. Overlook that and it is a very good story.
Sorry to say I couldn't finish this book... I really didn't even make it very far. Julia and her mom were very annoying, things weren't making any sense, and after talking to some friends who did finish the book, they said it never made sense - thus I called it quits...
