notesbynnenna 's review for:

The Perishing by Natashia Deón

2.5

---

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy of this book! All opinions are my own.

I was really looking forward to this book because I loved her first novel, GRACE, but sadly this book wasn’t for me. 

It’s difficult to describe what it’s about. Looking back at the synopsis of the book, I think the plot summary is actually a lot more straightforward than the story actually is. I wouldn’t say that it’s plot driven because not much happens until the very end. Perhaps it was more character-driven, but given that our main character is a person who has lived many lives, it was hard to get a grasp on their many selves.

This book is a mix of historical, literary, and speculative fiction, but those elements didn’t fully come together for me. I think the book was ambitious and tried to tackle a lot, but I found it most compelling when it focused on the story of Lou. Lou is a Black woman working as a reporter for the LA Times in the 1930s and of course she has to contend with both racism and sexism. In fact, the synopsis says she’s the first Black female journalist, but I don’t think that’s really highlighted in the story. It was interesting to read about the City of Angels in the 1930s because usually I’m reading about contemporary LA.

I would definitely read another book by Deón because I do think she’s a good writer, it was just that I was not the right reader for this particular book.