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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
âï¸ 2 stars
DNF @ 50%
A powerful story, Iâm sure, but it dragged for me and I didnât enjoy Joniece Abbot-Prattâs narration. Iâm also coming to understand that I really struggle with lyrical prose, which this has enough of for me to find frustrating. I found the lyricism got in the way of understanding what exactly was happening.
Iâm a fan of Octavia E. Butler, and as this was marketed to her readers and I found the premise intriguing, of course I picked it up. But at the halfway mark I mostly felt frustrated and my interest dwindled, so gave up on this one.
Maybe if I were in a different frame of mind and reading the book, not listening to audiobook, Iâd be able to finish.
DNF @ 50%
A powerful story, Iâm sure, but it dragged for me and I didnât enjoy Joniece Abbot-Prattâs narration. Iâm also coming to understand that I really struggle with lyrical prose, which this has enough of for me to find frustrating. I found the lyricism got in the way of understanding what exactly was happening.
Iâm a fan of Octavia E. Butler, and as this was marketed to her readers and I found the premise intriguing, of course I picked it up. But at the halfway mark I mostly felt frustrated and my interest dwindled, so gave up on this one.
Maybe if I were in a different frame of mind and reading the book, not listening to audiobook, Iâd be able to finish.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really really loved this book. They way she writes is really beautiful and I love this theme of wrestling with this idea that people are not all good and not all bad and this deep dive into how twisted your mind can become in an abusive relationship not that that is the right thing to call Bastiens ownership of Sol but I think she narrated Sols really complex thoughts and feelings about him really well. I agree with some critics that there are a few loose ends regarding the nuances of society and I’d be interested in a longer version of this book with more world building BUT that’s also not the point of the book so I’m not mad. Scary time in the world to be reading this book but all the more reason people should.
challenging
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have quite a few criticisms with the book.
First, the characters felt so incredibly monotone and lacking of depth. Was that intentional? Maybe - I can conceive of an argument where maybe it's something like "the source and prevailing cultural conditions have reached a climax where they actually force people to behave in a singular, one dimensional manner, as the Assignment pre-determined their love life/work life, so too was their emotional life pre-determined" but I do not buy it.
This is made worse by the fact that it felt like the author was trying to put in emotional complexity, for example, in the NOW, with MC wanting to go back to the official and now really articulating why but just feeling it. but it was a swing and a miss, for me at least.
I think that as an heir to Parable of the Sower-et-al, it really could have worked and if written better, could have succeeded. I really appreciated how the constructed social thought experiment did call more latent effects of racism and misogyny, but they just didn't feel articulated well - or at least, felt hollow. There were a few amazing scenes that demonstrated the a dual nature of like, complex social organization and relationships vs standardized social organization (thinking here of Mama talking about how she didn't love her baby right when it was born and it was okay, and all the lady started talking about how that needed to be said etc). But it just didn't feel frequent enough for me to ever feel like the author had thought through the full ramifications of the experiment.
I do not understand how you make New Orleans during Mardi Gras feel boring - but it was.
There's more I could complain about - but in the end, I am just sad that something that COULD HAVE been the heir to necessary and important black radical science-fiction kinda feel like it flopped.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ugh i hate to give this a low rating because the premise is so good but i could not connect to the writing or the story itself. i appreciate the author’s note and research that went into constructing this story, but it was too convoluted and repetitive for me to really get into.
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I feel like the author's portayal of emotional abuse was really well done, and the story itself was very interesting. I do think Henreiette's story could have been better integrated throughout. Overall, I'd recommended this read