Flight Behavior: A Novel

Dellarobia is walking into the mountains on a fool's errand, ready to throw her life away, when she happens upon a magical sight-- a valley filled with Monarch butterflies. This story follows everything that happens after that moment-- the wonder, the confusion, the fear regarding what it all means.

This was my first Barbara Kingsolver book. I've heard such good things about her, and know how popular she is. So I was hoping to be blown away. Unfortunately I was not.

That's not to say it was a bad story. It wasn't. It had it's moments. I'll admit to a few tears and a few smiles. But for the most part, the book came off as just "eh" for me.

Dellarobia wasn't very likable in the beginning, although she became more so later on. She was just a whiny and complaining woman discontented with her life, and unappreciative of everything she has, focused only on what she doesn't have.

But life changes after the butterflies. She begins to remember the person she used to be-- who she wanted to become. She begins to see her life for what it really is, both good and bad. She finds herself once again.

My final word: While I embrace the author's attempts to draw attention to the issue of "climate change" and its consequences, this story just came off as overly-dramatic. Climate change is more of a whisper, it's subtle and quiet and sneaks up on you while you aren't looking. This book felt like a loud scream in a quiet forest. Yet, despite that, the book was almost boring at times, making me scan over descriptive text that I had no interest in. And I kept cringing at the cultural stereotyping that riddles the story. It felt uncomfortable to me. There was something...I don't know...almost untoward about the constant stereotypes in this book. But overall it is a worthwhile read, if for no other reason than to open your eyes to the far-reaching implications of climate change. 3.5 stars

I was expecting to like this more than I did. I would certainly recommend it but I found it slow in some parts.

The author has a compelling baseline story concerning global warming and the significant impact of logging on the environment, particularly in relation to the monarch butterfly population. While the characters were engaging, certain chapters and passages contained an excessive amount of information on monarch butterflies, which, in my opinion, detracted from the overall narrative. I found myself repeatedly thinking, "Enough already," and was compelled to skim through those pages. This was unfortunate, but it was difficult to avoid.

The ending, too, felt rushed, as if the author had run out of ideas. It lacked the development and depth of the rest of the novel.

One of the highlights of the book was the scene where Ovid criticized the reporter for her biased and presumptuous interview, which she conducted without regard for the facts in order to fit her narrative.

Kingsolver is remarkably artful in embedding a scientific issue into a fictional story that would be appealing even without the scientific issue subtly woven throughout it. But is more moving because of it.