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mstracho's review against another edition
2.0
Dnfed around 65%. Would copy my "while reading" thoughts here if I could figure out how to access those updates.
patrickwonders's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
millymollymo's review against another edition
5.0
Thought provoking, intelligent, challenging. The Record Keeper is all of these things. A brilliant book that sets up a massively complex world, packed with so much promise all ro0ted in some passionate research.
Read this before it gets to the screen. Put it at the top of your TBR.
Book two is going to be special.
Full Review soon in British Science Fiction Review: https://bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-publications/bsfa-review/
Read this before it gets to the screen. Put it at the top of your TBR.
Book two is going to be special.
Full Review soon in British Science Fiction Review: https://bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-publications/bsfa-review/
thistle_and_verse's review against another edition
4.0
Arika is a very dynamic protagonist. She used to be very rebellious and became a toady after Teacher Jones crushed her spirit. A lot of the book is about whether or not she will return to being rebellious. Topics this book brought up - what does it take to be a revolutionary, the role of school and revised histories in upholding the status quo, the importance of memory to identity, creating family in a disruptive violent environment, the usefulness of divide and conquer.
katetownsend's review against another edition
3.0
Agnes Gomillion’s debut novel The Record Keeper is a book that examines race relations both past and present in a near-future dystopian North America. The third world war began with a computer virus that decimated technology and ended with the world cold and empty, the people heavily divided. Now, the Kongo people are tasked with cultivating crops for the rest of humanity, or what is left of it.
Arika Cobane is a member of the elite amongst the Kongo. At seventeen she is weeks away from graduating and taking her place far away from the fields. But a new student, Hosea Khan, arrives and with him come the sort of ideas and dreams Arika stamped out when she was just a child and the brutalities of the world became apparent.
The Record Keeper is an ambitious first novel. The future world that is it’s setting is a cold, harsh one. While the war was 170 years ago, it’s effects are still felt. The setting is fully realized – it has a history and carefully balanced politics. Yet, for all the vastness of the world, it retains a closed off, claustrophobic feel. Even when Arika doesn’t necessarily feel trapped within the walls of the school, it is palpable to the reader.
The cast is made up of quite a number of supporting characters. These include Arika’s schoolmates, teachers, members of the working class, rebels, and politicians. Allegiances and enemies are rather clear cut. Characters are memorable, with many standing for something greater than themselves.
However, I found myself often frustrated with Arika, our main character. For the majority of the first 150 pages or so she was extremely passive. Story beats happened around her, with Arika sticking stubbornly to doctrine despite her own misgivings. I appreciate this as a literary tactic—it makes perfect sense and is in line with her character as to why Arika was like this. Yet, I found myself growing frustrated with Arika, especially as most of the other characters were stronger in belief.
The pacing is a slow look over the course of a couple of weeks of Arika’s life. In a lot of ways this is a slice of life story set right on the cusp of a changing world. Even far away from the politics of the Senators change can be felt. Things that normally wouldn’t affect Arika are suddenly right on her doorstep. And, suddenly, she is forced to confront her own past, the doctrine she repeats so often, and how her actions affect others. However, some sections felt a little too slow. Certain conversations with classmates relating the latest news or informing the reader of the history of the world began inching their way towards the info-dump, which did slow down the story.
The ending was rather abrupt. In one sense, it wrapped up the story very nicely with Arika’s character arc finally hitting the right notes. On the other, I wanted to know what happened next. I can’t help but be just a little disappointed that we will not get all of the action I assumed would be within this novel. Still, what this book did it did well.
This book is a great look at race relations and oppressive rule. But it is also a story of fighting for equality, of standing up to oppressors no matter how strong they might be, and, maybe most importantly, a person facing not only the truth of their beliefs but what their beliefs and the fear to stand up for what they believe is right can do to those around them. If you are a fan of dystopian novels The Record Keeper by Agnes Gomillion is a book you will not want to miss.
This review originally found on Looking Glass Reads.
Arika Cobane is a member of the elite amongst the Kongo. At seventeen she is weeks away from graduating and taking her place far away from the fields. But a new student, Hosea Khan, arrives and with him come the sort of ideas and dreams Arika stamped out when she was just a child and the brutalities of the world became apparent.
The Record Keeper is an ambitious first novel. The future world that is it’s setting is a cold, harsh one. While the war was 170 years ago, it’s effects are still felt. The setting is fully realized – it has a history and carefully balanced politics. Yet, for all the vastness of the world, it retains a closed off, claustrophobic feel. Even when Arika doesn’t necessarily feel trapped within the walls of the school, it is palpable to the reader.
The cast is made up of quite a number of supporting characters. These include Arika’s schoolmates, teachers, members of the working class, rebels, and politicians. Allegiances and enemies are rather clear cut. Characters are memorable, with many standing for something greater than themselves.
However, I found myself often frustrated with Arika, our main character. For the majority of the first 150 pages or so she was extremely passive. Story beats happened around her, with Arika sticking stubbornly to doctrine despite her own misgivings. I appreciate this as a literary tactic—it makes perfect sense and is in line with her character as to why Arika was like this. Yet, I found myself growing frustrated with Arika, especially as most of the other characters were stronger in belief.
The pacing is a slow look over the course of a couple of weeks of Arika’s life. In a lot of ways this is a slice of life story set right on the cusp of a changing world. Even far away from the politics of the Senators change can be felt. Things that normally wouldn’t affect Arika are suddenly right on her doorstep. And, suddenly, she is forced to confront her own past, the doctrine she repeats so often, and how her actions affect others. However, some sections felt a little too slow. Certain conversations with classmates relating the latest news or informing the reader of the history of the world began inching their way towards the info-dump, which did slow down the story.
The ending was rather abrupt. In one sense, it wrapped up the story very nicely with Arika’s character arc finally hitting the right notes. On the other, I wanted to know what happened next. I can’t help but be just a little disappointed that we will not get all of the action I assumed would be within this novel. Still, what this book did it did well.
This book is a great look at race relations and oppressive rule. But it is also a story of fighting for equality, of standing up to oppressors no matter how strong they might be, and, maybe most importantly, a person facing not only the truth of their beliefs but what their beliefs and the fear to stand up for what they believe is right can do to those around them. If you are a fan of dystopian novels The Record Keeper by Agnes Gomillion is a book you will not want to miss.
This review originally found on Looking Glass Reads.
acrimsondaisy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
thebookishgurl's review against another edition
5.0
The Record Keeper is Agnes Gomillion's debut novel. I don't usually read sci-fi as it's a genre that daunts me as i'm not really into science and struggle with scientific words but this book was extremely easy to read, i found it a quick and easyish read and didn't get put off by the wording or plot.
I loved the concept. I was entranced from the first page. Arika’s world is crafted to be real and stark. The books main plot is around racism and it's very frank and dark. The people in power are white and English. The workers are from the Kongo and they are not treated with any respect or kindness. Arika the main character is the kind of person who follows rules after her childhood when she tried to stand up for herself she was locked away to starve so she now tries to stay out of trouble and wait for things to change. However she is strong and brave and becomes a voice for the people. Every person in this story has a role to play and if it's not followed they threaten the world they live in.
I enjoyed this book because it's completely different to anything i'd ever read usually, i usually stick to straight forward fantasy or contemporary romance books and this was a breath of fresh air for me. I loved the main character Arika and watching her character develop over time.
I loved the concept. I was entranced from the first page. Arika’s world is crafted to be real and stark. The books main plot is around racism and it's very frank and dark. The people in power are white and English. The workers are from the Kongo and they are not treated with any respect or kindness. Arika the main character is the kind of person who follows rules after her childhood when she tried to stand up for herself she was locked away to starve so she now tries to stay out of trouble and wait for things to change. However she is strong and brave and becomes a voice for the people. Every person in this story has a role to play and if it's not followed they threaten the world they live in.
I enjoyed this book because it's completely different to anything i'd ever read usually, i usually stick to straight forward fantasy or contemporary romance books and this was a breath of fresh air for me. I loved the main character Arika and watching her character develop over time.
emryser's review against another edition
4.0
It’s funny how this book grabbed my attention: it was like someone tapping my shoulder and asking a question when I haven’t even taken my earphones off. This book kind of interrupted what I was doing and demanded to be read – right then, right there. (I ended up taking it on holiday with me and, let me tell you, this is NOT a light, summery read so don’t make the same mistake. I mean it in the best possible way, though).
The Record Keeper is a scary eye-opener. It’s a horrific possibility and an excruciating reminder. It’s a horrendous past and a revolting future. It’s frightening in the way that it wakes a rooted fear that we could let history repeat itself in the future and add technology and science to make everything a thousand times worse. The Record Keeper is very complex and brave and ultimately groundbreaking. I’ve never read anything like it before (and I literally spend my life reading dystopian stories).
It’s not easy to get into it. It might take you a few chapters to actually understand what’s going on and what kind of world you were thrown into this time. It’s also very frustrating when you realise that the main character has been mind-washed and trained to obey and respect every law that is supposed to keep the society she’s in balanced. But it’s glorious to see how she develops and becomes exactly what she needs to be to make a difference (and to compensate all the nail-biting, wall-punching, nerve-racking moments she put you through in the first place). But the world is so well-crafted and the writing is so fitting the whole story becomes irresistible.
This is a book about racism, supremacism, and slavery – three themes that have been explored time and time again in dystopian fiction. The difference here is that The Record Keeper still managed to bring a whole new concept into the mix: what if slaves could stop seeing themselves as slaves with the help of technology and medicine? What if their desires, their instincts and even their thoughts could be taken away and turn into nothing so they could be exploited without complaining until they die?
That’s why The Record Keeper is so scary – because it brings another ‘what if’ to the table, an unthinkable hypothesis, something so horrendous it forces the reader to think of the darkness in humanity getting even darker. Agnes Gomillion did a brilliant job at conjuring my sense of justice, without even needing to write a historical fiction novel about the millions of victims of slavery throughout our history. This sci-fi novel proved to be as efficient at honouring slavery victims as any memoir written by one. If you love thought-provoking dystopian stories, you shouldn’t miss out on this one.
Follow Parabatai Reviews for more.
The Record Keeper is a scary eye-opener. It’s a horrific possibility and an excruciating reminder. It’s a horrendous past and a revolting future. It’s frightening in the way that it wakes a rooted fear that we could let history repeat itself in the future and add technology and science to make everything a thousand times worse. The Record Keeper is very complex and brave and ultimately groundbreaking. I’ve never read anything like it before (and I literally spend my life reading dystopian stories).
It’s not easy to get into it. It might take you a few chapters to actually understand what’s going on and what kind of world you were thrown into this time. It’s also very frustrating when you realise that the main character has been mind-washed and trained to obey and respect every law that is supposed to keep the society she’s in balanced. But it’s glorious to see how she develops and becomes exactly what she needs to be to make a difference (and to compensate all the nail-biting, wall-punching, nerve-racking moments she put you through in the first place). But the world is so well-crafted and the writing is so fitting the whole story becomes irresistible.
This is a book about racism, supremacism, and slavery – three themes that have been explored time and time again in dystopian fiction. The difference here is that The Record Keeper still managed to bring a whole new concept into the mix: what if slaves could stop seeing themselves as slaves with the help of technology and medicine? What if their desires, their instincts and even their thoughts could be taken away and turn into nothing so they could be exploited without complaining until they die?
That’s why The Record Keeper is so scary – because it brings another ‘what if’ to the table, an unthinkable hypothesis, something so horrendous it forces the reader to think of the darkness in humanity getting even darker. Agnes Gomillion did a brilliant job at conjuring my sense of justice, without even needing to write a historical fiction novel about the millions of victims of slavery throughout our history. This sci-fi novel proved to be as efficient at honouring slavery victims as any memoir written by one. If you love thought-provoking dystopian stories, you shouldn’t miss out on this one.
Follow Parabatai Reviews for more.
tundragirl's review against another edition
4.0
Fast paced and not what I was expecting at all. I liked it a lot, but be warned, there are some fairly horrifying scenes of brutality against children.
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