Review: The Tiger's Wife

Title: The Tiger's Wife
Author: Tea Obreht
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 338
Date(s) Read: July 1-5, 2015
Rating: 3

Summary:

Grief struck and searching for clues to her grandfather’s final state of mind, she turns to the stories he told her when she was a child. On their weekly trips to the zoo he would read to her from a worn copy of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, which he carried with him everywhere; later, he told her stories of his own encounters over many years with “the deathless man,” a vagabond who claimed to be immortal and appeared never to age. But the most extraordinary story of all is the one her grandfather never told her, the one Natalia must discover for herself. 

Review:

Okay, so it has taken me nearly six months to process this book...and figure out what I wanted to say.  That and a few other factors have caused the lapse in my reviews.  However, that is not here or there.  

I flip flopped between 2 and 4 stars for this one, but ultimately settled on 3 as it was a good solid middle ground for where I am sitting with this book.  I like fantasy and I like magical realism, however, this book I'm not entirely sure what to think.  I know there was a lot of hype about this author and her book, but ultimately when I got to reading it...it was, while well written, quite convoluted and at times hard to follow. 

I did enjoy the richness of the Eastern European legends that are interlaced throughout the story.  That was one of my favorite things about this book, however, it was still a bit much at times.  To the point, I'm not, even now sure how to explain myself where this book is involved.  Which is really maddening. 

There is a lot that goes on in this book to be certain, and at times I had to struggle to keep up with it, you have the following things that go on in this story:

• Narrator's Mission with Zora to get medicine to the orphans
• The mystery of the dead body
• the mystery of Grandfather's disappearance and death
• Grandfather's childhood
• The Tiger's Wife
• and the tales of the Deathless Man.

That is a LOT! Also, I feel that some of the folklore got lost or missed by some of the other things that were going on.