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kylieqrada's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Bananas, but so thoughtful and thought-provoking. Not always the most likeable main character, but in the best way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Cannibalism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Racism, Classism, and Misogyny
Minor: Sexual content, Racial slurs, and Acephobia/Arophobia
joreneereads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
the premise of this book gets a solid 5/5 from me, such an interesting concept and subject for a book. as someone obsessed with languages, the whole "learning a language" aspect of the story was so interesting to me that i had no attention issues over the first half of the book like some reviewers have described. i firmly believe that language learning is an underserved plot or subject matter for books. the ideas here are also so interesting - do you take on something of the culture, personality, or values of the group or individual that you learn a language from? why is it so valued for english speakers to learn another language, but only expected for speakers of other languages to learn english? (obviously we all know the answer to that.) how does the brain assimilate language?
the commentary from the narrator was casual and varied in style - at times a bit "opinion dumping" - but that does not bother me at all. The dialogue was odd... one character says "lol" out loud? but again, not something that bothers me.
where I think this book had some unfulfilled potential is the development of all these ideas. of course it IS all connected - colonialism, classism, racism, exploitation, language, etc. - but the first 2/3 or so of the book is dedicated to throwing all these pieces into the ring, and then they are kind of just left there, and the book ends. i found the premise and idea behind the book stronger than the final execution, but ultimately i did still enjoy reading this so much (despite its disturbing content), and I will be thinking about it for a long time to come.
one note - the main character spends a fair amount of time disparaging a partner who seems to have little to no libido. i'm not sure what the intended reading of this is - if it is supposed to be a statement on the main character, on the partner, on race dynamics, other?, but it was a bit uncomfortable to read. it is fine to have low libido. it is also fine for that to be something you don't want in a relationship, but it doesn't make someone a bad partner because they have a libido that doesn't satisfy your preferences.
eARC received through netgalley, thank you.
the commentary from the narrator was casual and varied in style - at times a bit "opinion dumping" - but that does not bother me at all. The dialogue was odd... one character says "lol" out loud? but again, not something that bothers me.
where I think this book had some unfulfilled potential is the development of all these ideas. of course it IS all connected - colonialism, classism, racism, exploitation, language, etc. - but the first 2/3 or so of the book is dedicated to throwing all these pieces into the ring, and then they are kind of just left there, and the book ends. i found the premise and idea behind the book stronger than the final execution, but ultimately i did still enjoy reading this so much (despite its disturbing content), and I will be thinking about it for a long time to come.
one note - the main character spends a fair amount of time disparaging a partner who seems to have little to no libido. i'm not sure what the intended reading of this is - if it is supposed to be a statement on the main character, on the partner, on race dynamics, other?, but it was a bit uncomfortable to read. it is fine to have low libido. it is also fine for that to be something you don't want in a relationship, but it doesn't make someone a bad partner because they have a libido that doesn't satisfy your preferences.
eARC received through netgalley, thank you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Classism, Death, Racism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Colonisation, Islamophobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
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