Reviews

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng

timinbc's review

2.0

Fantasy Award? I'm not seeing it.

Spoilers follow. They are hidden, but if your device doesn't support that, you were warned.

Missionaries? Meh. Especially if we start delving into the philosophy thereof.
To the fae? OK ... maybe. But the fae are quite generic.
Castle? Cool, but maybe not for 300 pages.
Puzzle? Great ... but not dribbled out a minor clue at a time and then revealed to be a yawner.

Then the next big hurdle:

Spoiler

Cathy has the hots for her boring brother. Read, read, oh look, they're screwing, Tsk. Read, read, I'm not really your sister! Oh goody, we can screw again! Read, read, Oh wait I really am your sister! Hnnr, hnnr, who cares, c'mere you vixen.

Really? What does this add to the story? Is it supposed to be another topic to explore via metaphysics and philosophy?

And then another:

Spoiler

C: Oh, Laon, we're in Hell. L: Far out, man. C: Oh well, there are still souls to save, while we are in Hell incesting, so let's get started.

Finally, Cathy's attitude. Someone: the cook's made of flames. Cathy: Do tell. What's for lunch?

I'm filing this under "WTF."

hirvimaki's review

2.0

Four stars for all the pretty words. One and half stars for the story they told.

This book seemingly has all the ingredients that would make a story I'd love: gothic dread, magic, beautiful imagery, lavish prose, weird and quirky...

And yet, it's boring. After the first few chapters it kind of slows to a stop and then sits on its big, boring, seemingly-deep-theological ass and preaches at you. Literally. And to be honest, even if this was billed as an esoteric religious discussion it'd be boring. The theological quandaries it poses just aren't. This wearisomeness permeates the characters. Which is sad because the book is written so beautifully. I almost wish I would have stopped at around the mid-point and filled in the rest with my imagination because it has one of the worst twist reveals I have ever encountered. If you are going to go for ick, make it ICK. And I cannot say any more without ruining a plot that actually deserves to be ruined.

I didn't hate it but I certainly did not like it. Except the words were pretty.

kstav's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

If you put the word "fae" on the cover I'm going to be on my guard for half the book. Instead I was taken off guard by the most refreshingly original book I've read all year.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest

carb's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

noirverse's review

4.0

This book was a dream. It took me some time to settle into the story, but I enjoyed the journey just as much as the final conclusion. I loved the concept of two Victorian missionary siblings, both of whom felt firmly rooted to their backgrounds, going to try and convert the Fae to Christianity. The Fae themselves were wonderfully creepy and unromantic, and I was very interested in all of the religious references the book brought up. Settling on four stars because the pacing felt like a mess, but I'll be thinking about this beautiful book for a long time.

bmurray959's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

draculabackwards69's review

challenging emotional informative mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

vermilionred's review

2.0

Wanted to like it very much. Didn't. Got bogged down about halfway through, then skipped to the end and read the last 20 pages.

theimaginaryworldoffaith's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.75

loreleimoxon's review

0.25

What an embarrassingly vapid story. If I was the author that created this I would dig myself a hole to live in so I never had to look anyone in the eye again. How do you have an MFA in medieval studies and still miss the mark so completely? It’s like she had an automatic bow and arrow that will shoot bulls eyes no matter what and she still completely missed the target. How is the takeaway from this worthless 400 pages, “Well, I guess we are incestuous AND evangelical missionaries, guess it’s time to evangelize all the faeries!” I wish I hadn’t wasted my time dragging myself through this plotless, pointless, poorly written piece of shit.