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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Finna was a fun little novella of sci-fi multiverse adventure and very light horror elements (Corporate is the scariest monster of all). I enjoyed reading it and appreciated its snark against capitalism and how retail employees are treated (both by the corporate overlords and customers), though I'm always happy for takedowns of capitalism to hit harder than this did.
As a novella, there are always opportunities to further expand and develop characters and raise the stakes and just do more all-around, and this book is no exception.
There could have been more feeling and tension between Ava and Jules (we're told they loved each other once, and now things are awkward, but there's not a lot to back that up; for the most part they just seem like people who know each other well enough to bicker while stressed out by navigating the chaos of the multiverse), plus more development of them as individual people. The portrayal of Jules, for example, is pretty typical for The Cool and Competent One, but we really only see that dimension of them. They would have seemed less flat if we saw more of how they don't feel like they fit in, say, (rather than just being told as much) and would give their choices later in the book more emotional weight.
Or the LitenVärld work culture and customers could have been taken to the next level of terribleness. Or there could have been more description and development of the parallel worlds--I kind of lost track of the world jumps during my listening experience because there wasn't enough description to differentiate things and for me to really visualize the setting. Or the critique could be sharper and hit harder, as previously stated. Or instead of darker, maybe the whole thing could have been funnier and played up the absurdity of it all? More silly Swedish-ification of everything? It seems like something more could have been done to make this book more impactful while staying within the bounds of brevity--I don't need every book to do everything, just make me feel something.
I've gone back and forth on what to rate this. Three stars feels mean and I didn't have a bad time reading it exactly, but the areas where it fell short for me add up to more than the kinds of minor criticisms I give four stars to. Imagine a three-point-something and add the knowledge that I'd listen to the sequel if my library has it. This is an imaginative world and it provides a welcome escape from reality.
***
Spoiler-ful Synopsis, because book club is a couple months away and future me will need a refresher:
Finna is about Ava (she/her), a LitenVärld (Swedish for 'Small World') employee who is post-breakup with Jules (they/them), her coworker. Ava has shifted her whole work schedule around so she can avoid running into Jules at work. One day, Ava is called in to cover for another coworker who called in sick, and of course runs into Jules. A customer approaches them saying she lost her grandmother, Ursula (she/her), who was shopping with her in the store. Tricia (she/her), their boss, calls a meeting to search for the missing woman, but first they have to watch a corporate training video about wormholes (or 'maskhål,' Swedish for, you guessed it, 'wormhole') at LitenVärld stores, and asks for two volunteers to search the alternate universe for Ursula. Jules volunteers, and getting no other takers, Tricia assigns Ava to join them. Tricia tells Ava she of course can refuse, it's just grounds for termination. They also won't get overtime pay for this adventure, (unless they spend more than 80 hours in the multiverse in a single pay period), but there are a couple of restaurant gift cards in it, so that's basically just as good. So Ava and Jules take the company-issued GPS locator device, the Finna (Swedish for 'find'), and set out to locate grandma Ursula. As they explore the alternate dimension ("Scandinavian Narnia!"), they discover Ursula's purse and some blood, which uh-oh, means she's been eaten. Luckily the Finna points them in the direction of the nearest "equivalent" Ursula from an alternate universe, so their new mission is to find Alternate Ursula and bring her home. They stop for something to eat at the Alternate LitenVärld food court where their Alternate LitenVärld coworkers demand payment in blood and start going on about the 'Mother' and their 'Hive' and get super scary and start chasing them. Jules pulls Ava through another wormhole (also known as 'mareji') to escape, and they eventually run into Alternate Ursula, who in this universe is the badass captain of a pirate ship whose crew fights off the baddies. (I listened to the audiobook, so I didn't quite catch her name and none of the other reviews or discussions have mentioned it, sadly.) After learning she's the one Ava and Jules are looking for, Alternate Ursula decides since it's long past time she handed over the reins to her ship, she'll go back with them. They are pursued by more baddies, Alternate Ursula gets injured, Jules decides to stay and fight off the baddies, letting Ava and Alternate Ursula escape. Alternate Ursula gets some medical attention and is 'reunited with'/meets for the first time her granddaughter, while Ava quits LitenVärld. Ava visits Alternate Ursula at the hospital and Alternate Ursula fixes the Finna and gives Ava some life advice. Ava decides, with nothing keeping her here, to go off in search of Jules, to see if they survived, or at least find a universe where Jules survived, and see if they can have a relationship after all.
***
Some of my Favorite Quotes:
"Everything at work is part of a set with everything else, they’d explained. I don’t fit into any of those sets."
"Seriously?... We find a wrinkle in time and you tell the manager?"
"This video is making me gayer out of spite,"
"Ava had never really had to deal with an emergency; just the slow disaster that was her life."
"Of course Jules was alive, they had never faced a challenge whose ass they couldn't kick, and they had the stores of righteous rage that all retail employees collected."
"Every world has its monsters. I've been watching the news and yours is no exception."
As a novella, there are always opportunities to further expand and develop characters and raise the stakes and just do more all-around, and this book is no exception.
There could have been more feeling and tension between Ava and Jules (we're told they loved each other once, and now things are awkward, but there's not a lot to back that up; for the most part they just seem like people who know each other well enough to bicker while stressed out by navigating the chaos of the multiverse), plus more development of them as individual people. The portrayal of Jules, for example, is pretty typical for The Cool and Competent One, but we really only see that dimension of them. They would have seemed less flat if we saw more of how they don't feel like they fit in, say, (rather than just being told as much) and would give their choices later in the book more emotional weight.
Or the LitenVärld work culture and customers could have been taken to the next level of terribleness. Or there could have been more description and development of the parallel worlds--I kind of lost track of the world jumps during my listening experience because there wasn't enough description to differentiate things and for me to really visualize the setting. Or the critique could be sharper and hit harder, as previously stated. Or instead of darker, maybe the whole thing could have been funnier and played up the absurdity of it all? More silly Swedish-ification of everything? It seems like something more could have been done to make this book more impactful while staying within the bounds of brevity--I don't need every book to do everything, just make me feel something.
I've gone back and forth on what to rate this. Three stars feels mean and I didn't have a bad time reading it exactly, but the areas where it fell short for me add up to more than the kinds of minor criticisms I give four stars to. Imagine a three-point-something and add the knowledge that I'd listen to the sequel if my library has it. This is an imaginative world and it provides a welcome escape from reality.
***
Spoiler-ful Synopsis, because book club is a couple months away and future me will need a refresher:
Finna is about Ava (she/her), a LitenVärld (Swedish for 'Small World') employee who is post-breakup with Jules (they/them), her coworker. Ava has shifted her whole work schedule around so she can avoid running into Jules at work. One day, Ava is called in to cover for another coworker who called in sick, and of course runs into Jules. A customer approaches them saying she lost her grandmother, Ursula (she/her), who was shopping with her in the store. Tricia (she/her), their boss, calls a meeting to search for the missing woman, but first they have to watch a corporate training video about wormholes (or 'maskhål,' Swedish for, you guessed it, 'wormhole') at LitenVärld stores, and asks for two volunteers to search the alternate universe for Ursula. Jules volunteers, and getting no other takers, Tricia assigns Ava to join them. Tricia tells Ava she of course can refuse, it's just grounds for termination. They also won't get overtime pay for this adventure, (unless they spend more than 80 hours in the multiverse in a single pay period), but there are a couple of restaurant gift cards in it, so that's basically just as good. So Ava and Jules take the company-issued GPS locator device, the Finna (Swedish for 'find'), and set out to locate grandma Ursula. As they explore the alternate dimension ("Scandinavian Narnia!"), they discover Ursula's purse and some blood, which uh-oh, means she's been eaten. Luckily the Finna points them in the direction of the nearest "equivalent" Ursula from an alternate universe, so their new mission is to find Alternate Ursula and bring her home. They stop for something to eat at the Alternate LitenVärld food court where their Alternate LitenVärld coworkers demand payment in blood and start going on about the 'Mother' and their 'Hive' and get super scary and start chasing them. Jules pulls Ava through another wormhole (also known as 'mareji') to escape, and they eventually run into Alternate Ursula, who in this universe is the badass captain of a pirate ship whose crew fights off the baddies. (I listened to the audiobook, so I didn't quite catch her name and none of the other reviews or discussions have mentioned it, sadly.) After learning she's the one Ava and Jules are looking for, Alternate Ursula decides since it's long past time she handed over the reins to her ship, she'll go back with them. They are pursued by more baddies, Alternate Ursula gets injured, Jules decides to stay and fight off the baddies, letting Ava and Alternate Ursula escape. Alternate Ursula gets some medical attention and is 'reunited with'/meets for the first time her granddaughter, while Ava quits LitenVärld. Ava visits Alternate Ursula at the hospital and Alternate Ursula fixes the Finna and gives Ava some life advice. Ava decides, with nothing keeping her here, to go off in search of Jules, to see if they survived, or at least find a universe where Jules survived, and see if they can have a relationship after all.
***
Some of my Favorite Quotes:
"Everything at work is part of a set with everything else, they’d explained. I don’t fit into any of those sets."
"Seriously?... We find a wrinkle in time and you tell the manager?"
"This video is making me gayer out of spite,"
"Ava had never really had to deal with an emergency; just the slow disaster that was her life."
"Of course Jules was alive, they had never faced a challenge whose ass they couldn't kick, and they had the stores of righteous rage that all retail employees collected."
"Every world has its monsters. I've been watching the news and yours is no exception."
adventurous
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Really couldn't get into this one. The protagonists (Ava especially) were very irritating as the "conflict" between them had no real teeth or stakes and so came off as immature. The characterization was also inconsistent other than a few overly simplistic traits.
Overall, while the concept was exciting, the execution really fell flat, which is pretty unfortunate as the "infinite Ikea" hook isn't really anything new or original. Even the criticism of capitalism felt surface level and kind of juvenile.
Overall, while the concept was exciting, the execution really fell flat, which is pretty unfortunate as the "infinite Ikea" hook isn't really anything new or original. Even the criticism of capitalism felt surface level and kind of juvenile.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
tells rather than shows to such an extent that the main characters are just two indistinguishable people with occasional long chunks of explanation about how they are feeling
The concept is really the best thing this story has going for it but unfortunately I've read this concept a few times already... and they were MUCH better. Completely obvious capitalism spite but then doesn't offer a valid solution...