Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

2 reviews

maximum_quinn's review

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mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

A fascinating premise, but the female protagonist has a few moments where you are very cognizant of the fact that the author is a man (multiple comments about her own breast size, for example). It's an interesting story, but I probably won't be picking up the rest of the series due to the author's voice.
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itsnotalakeitsanocean's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

I DNF this book ages before this site was even a thing and decided to pick it up again because I was on a paranormal fiction kick after playing Remedy Entertainment's Control (which you should definitely experience in some form or another if you've read this book).

Long story short: this book is a huge disappointment with tantalisingly good bits hidden like needles in a haystack, and could have benefitted from being shorter.

Things I liked:
  • I liked the contrast between Myfanwy before and after losing her memory. I can see why it would be a point of contention for some people, but I felt like it fit the fact
    Pre-Amnesia!Myfanwy did snoop around Chequy's finances, but lacked the confidence and was too marginalised by her peers to take the initiative. Her losing her memories gave her the push she needed to get the ball rolling in my opinion.
  • Chequy felt like a believable organisation. I enjoyed reading how they conducted operations, the efforts they went to cover up paranormal events
    and you could feel how heavy the consequences of several of its members turning traitor were as a result.
  • The action/horror sequences are well written.
    The flesh cube in the police station bit really made my skin crawl.
     

Things I did not like:
  • It was pretty blatant at times that the author was a cishet man writing women, almost bordering on "breasting boobily" esque descriptions at times, and it felt overly catty.
  • I struggled to suspend my disbelief during Pre-Amnesia!Myfanwy's letters to her Post-Amnesia self; specifically the fact she would be able to accurately recall every single word in all of the conversations she had. Eye for detail or not, there are some things you are just not going to remember.
  • Several of the background characters feel like caricatures that are just there to fulfill a role, but at the same time if those characters didn't exist their absence would be noticeable. An example being a bodyguard for Myfanwy late into the book who is Scottish-Japanese who dies not a chapter after he is introduced, and the best I can remember about him was the author's dodgy description about how he cussed up a storm of a mixed slur Japanese and Gaelic.
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