Don't read this five star book. While I couldn't put this story down, it left me feeling horribly depressed about our planet. I can't believe I am saying this, but if I knew what I know about the book now, I wouldn't have read it. The writing was magnificent and I loved the narrators voice, but the thought of the end of the world is depressing. At this point in the year, I needed something happier. Reader beware. I wanted to dislike this book shortly after I started reading it, due to the spurious science and the sentimental writing style. But this tale of a girl's coming of age, as the world's rotation begins to slow down, really clicked with me. It's written in the way we look back on strange times in our lives -- evoking that weird nostalgia we sometimes feel for horrible things that happened as we grew up.A few things detract from the storytelling -- including a few cliches (such as using a telescope to spy on the neighbors, and some painful metaphors) -- but other aspects that initially bothered me started to make sense. For example, the main character has a surprising lack of awareness of how the ongoing disaster is affecting the rest of the world; but on reflection, I can attribute that to being part of the ongoing denial and isolation of the world she's describing.In a year when I read a lot of "gradual end of the world" fiction, I feel like this is a fitting capstone. Time to pick a new theme for next year....
What do You think about O Tempo Dos Milagres (2012)?
Fast read. Scary as hell concept. Would love to have seen the author take it further
—Joanne
4.5 stars and rounded up. A great coming of age story set at the end of the world.
—Belinda2460
Beautifully written, achingly boring. The premise has such potential too.
—Tao
This book had so much potential but ended up falling flat for me.
—Bmodesto
