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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
I found this book to be disjointed and disturbing with no real resolution. It mixed science fiction and fantasy in an awkward manner and the author spent waaaaaay too much time hitting the reader over the head with politics.
I started this book well over a week-and-a-half ago: I still haven't made any progress. (Note: I quit on page 140.)
The initial premise was quite nice. I liked Beauty's voice; while Tepper didn't seem to be doing a radical reinterpretation of the fairytale, it wasn't offensive either.
Then Beauty time-traveled. Tepper nearly lost me there, but completely alienated me with her preachy environmentalist and feminist themes. Yes, the present Western world is patriarchal and materialistic. But it is not as bad as Tepper describes.
Finally, the whole 'fairy godmother' thing never captured my interest. Oh no! A Dark Lord that's evil. I couldn't bring myself to care.
The initial premise was quite nice. I liked Beauty's voice; while Tepper didn't seem to be doing a radical reinterpretation of the fairytale, it wasn't offensive either.
Then Beauty time-traveled. Tepper nearly lost me there, but completely alienated me with her preachy environmentalist and feminist themes. Yes, the present Western world is patriarchal and materialistic. But it is not as bad as Tepper describes.
Finally, the whole 'fairy godmother' thing never captured my interest. Oh no! A Dark Lord that's evil. I couldn't bring myself to care.
What a weird book. It kept flouncing from genre to genre, but not gracefully. I don't know. I liked some parts, disliked others. I didn't like how it was all strung together.
And I kept saying "chimichanga" in my head every time they mentioned "Chinanga".
And I kept saying "chimichanga" in my head every time they mentioned "Chinanga".
My first Sheri Tepper, but I understand I should have chosen a different one. Beauty is a great character and I'm a sucker for fairytale inspired books, but this story holds several of my biggest squeaks. I managed to avoid thinking too hard about the time travel problems, the religion or the the whole "fidipor" thing, but then the the banana republic trope showed up. Granted that it wasn't a simple banana republic, it was a Garcia-Marquez inspired one, and it had An Important Point To Make, yet it still feels like a white woman poking fun at some things that are actually pretty terrible. After that I wasn't in the right frame of mind to read this book, as every slightly weird thing made me drop it. As of now, I'm not sure I could ever possibly return to this author.
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book stuck with me, but man... did it weird me out.
I read a Dutch translation, which seemed to have been translated a bit clumsily so that might be part of the cause.
The book takes a rather cynical view on different fairy-tales, with Beauty ending up as Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and if I remember correctly also Cinderella.
It made me curious for Tepper's other work, and I'd love to get my hands on the English original to see how much was the translation, and how much was the book itself.
I read a Dutch translation, which seemed to have been translated a bit clumsily so that might be part of the cause.
The book takes a rather cynical view on different fairy-tales, with Beauty ending up as Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and if I remember correctly also Cinderella.
It made me curious for Tepper's other work, and I'd love to get my hands on the English original to see how much was the translation, and how much was the book itself.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beautiful! And sad. And completely different from what I expected. And entirely enjoyable.