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mworrell's review against another edition
The Lovecraft genre is not my boat, but this is a semi-interesting take on some of the tropes. I find this book similar to Gideon the Ninth in my reaction to it. I like the characters, I like their relationships, it doesn’t grab me.
What spoils this as an audiobook is one: the narrator and two: the japanese american characters.
One: the narrator uses a bad japanese accent for the japanese american characters, even for a younger nisei character.
Two: The younger nisei character is named Neko. (???) I’m calling her Kitty from here on out.
I only listened to this book; I haven’t read it without the filter of the narrator, so I genuinely can’t tell what Kitty’s characterization is supposed to be. I suspect the narrator is reading her as far more timid then she actually is. Her lines are read in the same, stilted manner. There’s the bad accent, as well as the slow, plodding pace. The narrator pauses between every sentence. It gets in the way of Kitty as a character. It’s also annoying. No other character gets this treatment except for the JA’s.
But um. Anyway I do not recommend this, though I do like the author’s most recent book.
What spoils this as an audiobook is one: the narrator and two: the japanese american characters.
One: the narrator uses a bad japanese accent for the japanese american characters, even for a younger nisei character.
Two: The younger nisei character is named Neko. (???) I’m calling her Kitty from here on out.
I only listened to this book; I haven’t read it without the filter of the narrator, so I genuinely can’t tell what Kitty’s characterization is supposed to be. I suspect the narrator is reading her as far more timid then she actually is. Her lines are read in the same, stilted manner. There’s the bad accent, as well as the slow, plodding pace. The narrator pauses between every sentence. It gets in the way of Kitty as a character. It’s also annoying. No other character gets this treatment except for the JA’s.
But um. Anyway I do not recommend this, though I do like the author’s most recent book.
Graphic: Genocide, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, and Sexism
Moderate: War, Misogyny, Acephobia/Arophobia, Blood, Body horror, and Antisemitism
Minor: Sexual assault
This is set after japanese internment, and while the main character is not japanese, they spent an extended time in the camps. Their adoptive family is japanese american, so the camps and the xenophobia is prominent in the book. The main character’s original family wererubybastille's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-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
4.75
I found it a bit too slow at the end, otherwise it would have been 5 stars. Reading this book feels like missing, or thinking fondly about, your loved ones. It’s a slow-paced look at families found and born, and what kind of legacy we choose to leave. It’s also about Lovecraftian monsters, though having never read any Lovecraft I’m guessing many references went over my head. Still, it was a great winter read.
Moderate: Genocide, Murder, and Sexism
Minor: Antisemitism
commander_zander's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This is the book i was wishing for when i read 'Lovecraft Country'. Super impressed. A group of immortal scholars living in the margins of the 1900s, who are aware of a vast occult world behind the human world. An excellent urban fantasy novel.
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Homophobia and Antisemitism
Also: Unseen monsters of pervading menace
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