Not really my type of book, i think i sort of had the wrong expetations diviing into this one. It was bits and pieces i liked, but not much to really get invested in the characters or story.

After searching through my kindle I can not find my review copy of this anywhere so unfortunately I can not review it. If I find it I will be happy to read and review.

I voluntarily TRIED to read and review an advanced copy of And Clouds Passed Above from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I will start with the positives: the cover is absolutely beautiful and the synopsis hooked me with the "reminiscent of a present-day fairy tale" bit. That said, I did not finish the book (21%) because I found nothing interesting enough to keep my attention. My mind kept wandering as I read this book. There is no depth of character in Jaan, the young man on the journey. I learned virtually nothing about him nor the mysterious, absentee grandfather nor Jaan's the late mother. I found all of it disjointed. The word choice was specific, but there was no flow to the prose--almost mechanical, like paint by number for writing. Random places, items, characters, and events are mentioned without any elaboration for a reference basis. I tried but could not finish this novel and I do not recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was an intriguing book. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but I ended up enjoying it and the message it sends.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

I wasn't sure this book would be for me as I expected it to be overly florid. But once I passed the forward I was sucked in by the authors masterful prose and ability to weave a compelling story that left you feeling as if you just woke from a dream. And while, yes, the prose is a shade of purple, it works with this in the same way that Life of Pi works. It's not terribly long and I ended up reading it in one sitting.

The boat is out in the midst of a storm.Jaan is walking through the storm.His mother vanished years ago.I couldn't get wrapped up in jaans world and care about what happened to him

This book is, on the surface, a story of a young man, Jaan, that has lost his mother at an early age and has been raised by his uncle. His grandfather has maintained contact through letters and gifts. When Jaan turns eighteen, his grandfather sends him a final gift and asks him to journey to a remote island. It is an allegory about a young man’s journey to discover his identity. He benefits from mentorship along the way and attempts to find his internal compass. He encounters good and evil. He learns from his experiences. Jaan follows “the road less traveled” but wonders about the paths not taken. It is a story of decisions and ramifications, the difference between youth and age, and the journeys we make in life.

Overall, I liked it but also had several issues with it. This book has a fable-like quality about it. It exudes a quiet beauty and takes a bit of patience and reflection to read it. It is not fast-paced nor does it contain a significant amount of action. It contains beautifully descriptive language, probably a bit too much, and occasionally comes across a bit stilted and disjointed. Its message is indirect and will not be to everyone’s taste. If you enjoy lots of descriptive prose, magical realism, or books that offer deeper meanings, open to the reader’s individual interpretation, you may enjoy this book.

Additional thoughts: There is a ton of descriptive language, but oddly, it somehow fits the mood and tone of the book. It has an unpretentious dream-like quality to it. It's almost like an elder telling a story to a younger person about finding his path in life, about the meaning of it all. I think the author is somewhat inexperienced, and is not expressing himself succinctly. Perhaps this was intentional? I'm not sure, but I thought it could have been an amazingly profound novel with the right editor. I enjoyed it but it will take a discerning reader who is not in a hurry to fully enjoy it.

This book was convoluted with so many details that, from the first, I was completely lost. I don’t throw around the phrase ‘purple prose’ around often, but that’s really all I read.

The second problem I came across is there is no sense of stakes—or if there are, I didn’t understand them. I didn’t know why I should care for Jaan or his journey.

The comparisons for this book, Life of Pi, The Name of the Wind, and The Alchemist are compelling in their details and characters. This book set itself against strong competitors, and I felt it failed.

It’s frustrating because either I was in the wrong state of mind to appreciate this or the narrative style was a barrier for me. And I suspect that below what I could access were some thought provoking depths. It weirdly reminded me of Jess Butterworth’s Running on the Roof of World but mingled with Life of Pi. I can be very hit and miss with more literary novels and I think for me this lacked a bit of resolution. There were some beautiful lines here but overall I think I’m just not quite in the audience for this one. If the blurb entices you though, you should definitely give it a try. The fault is in the reader on this occasion!