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savbad's review against another edition
3.0
The first two thirds of the novel are really, really well written, captivating, and reminiscent of "Exit West," but the last third introduces child sa and violence against trans women in a way that is not nuanced or respectful to survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. The novel attempts to explore violence against women, but the very much triggering subject of abuse is handled like a white man pretending to be the Devil's Advocate in your freshman lit class: it lacks true thought.
Outside of abuse, the novel introduces highly technical concepts but then ultimately discards them. We're introduced to energy smuggling, but that's abandoned; we're introduced to The Trail, but that's more a metaphor than it is a Very Real Thing that impacts the world building; we're introduced to an intense geopolitical conflict that is highly, highly intriguing because it doesn't center around the white Europe, but the conflict just fizzles out.
I had really high hopes for the novel, and wanted it to be everything it wasn't.
Outside of abuse, the novel introduces highly technical concepts but then ultimately discards them. We're introduced to energy smuggling, but that's abandoned; we're introduced to The Trail, but that's more a metaphor than it is a Very Real Thing that impacts the world building; we're introduced to an intense geopolitical conflict that is highly, highly intriguing because it doesn't center around the white Europe, but the conflict just fizzles out.
I had really high hopes for the novel, and wanted it to be everything it wasn't.
bhnmt61's review against another edition
3.0
This inventive, disturbing, vaguely sci-fi novel follows two female protagonists, years apart, as they flee for their lives from unnamed threats. Meena is on a perilous journey across the Indian Ocean to find out what happened to her mother. Mariama, a young girl, stows away on a convoy traveling across Africa and meets up with a mysterious woman named after the sea goddess Yemaya. Unfortunately since both characters' names start with M, I sometimes found it difficult to remember what happened to which.
I loved the way Byrne imagines a near-future in which the USA and Europe have become irrelevant, and the focus has moved to India and Africa. I also loved that each protagonist was bluntly, unapologetically herself. The reasons for their flight are gradually revealed, and as you come to understand their histories, the visceral, almost gutteral, tone of the narration make sense. The Girl in the Road works best as a tale of female rage.
But ultimately it fell short for me, partly because it occasionally seemed to be deliberately opaque, and partly because it's written by an American white woman. Did she get it right? I am also an American white woman, how would I know? Why did she feel the need to tell a story of women traumatized by their experience set in a continent that she appears to have never visited before she traveled there for research? It could oddly even be considered a contemporary African version of Orientalism. There is a short essay "On Ethiopia" that follows the epilogue, where Byrne talks about some of her experience in traveling to Ethiopia for research. It felt to me like there was more honesty in those few pages than there might have been in the entire rest of the book.
I'm glad I read it, but the experience was marred by questions of transparency and appropriation. It's her debut novel, so I will be interested to see what she does next (her next novel is already out).
I loved the way Byrne imagines a near-future in which the USA and Europe have become irrelevant, and the focus has moved to India and Africa. I also loved that each protagonist was bluntly, unapologetically herself. The reasons for their flight are gradually revealed, and as you come to understand their histories, the visceral, almost gutteral, tone of the narration make sense. The Girl in the Road works best as a tale of female rage.
But ultimately it fell short for me, partly because it occasionally seemed to be deliberately opaque, and partly because it's written by an American white woman. Did she get it right? I am also an American white woman, how would I know? Why did she feel the need to tell a story of women traumatized by their experience set in a continent that she appears to have never visited before she traveled there for research? It could oddly even be considered a contemporary African version of Orientalism. There is a short essay "On Ethiopia" that follows the epilogue, where Byrne talks about some of her experience in traveling to Ethiopia for research. It felt to me like there was more honesty in those few pages than there might have been in the entire rest of the book.
I'm glad I read it, but the experience was marred by questions of transparency and appropriation. It's her debut novel, so I will be interested to see what she does next (her next novel is already out).
toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition
It's just not grabbing me; was trying to use it for judge a book by it's cover square for bingo but I think I'm gonna go for something else
kcrouth's review against another edition
4.0
"The Girl in the Road" is two tales, one of a girl and the other of a young woman, each on their respective personal journey and quest, eventually converging into one. It is set in the near future, mid to late 21st century. The inevitable results of 20th and early 21st century politics, economics, and environmental policy are playing out, and help set the context for this story. The plot is fast moving and the reader is pulled rather abruptly (in the style of William Gibson) into the context and jargon of new technology and worldviews. The protagonists of the story's two threads are painted with fine detail and intimacy giving the reader both cause and person to pull for. The two journeys eventually converge unexpectedly to bridge the gap in culture, experience, time and space, and create a single concluding thread. This story is creative and edgy, and told in a captivating way to fully engage the reader through the final chapter and epilogue. I am excited to have discovered this local author, and will be seeking out her other works, specifically "The Actual Star", which was released recently.
nightowl22's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
gfmatt's review against another edition
3.0
I read it, but I am still not sure what happened or who the protagonist really is.
prickly's review against another edition
4.0
An amalgam of interweaving stories and struggles that twists and turns like the not-quite-a-road our hero finds herself journeying across, and yet it never feels meandering. I will remember it warmly.
bluestarfish's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
An odd and intriguing (and baffling) road-trip tale of a near-future. There are so many ideas going on in this book! It's a world dealing with a changing climate and the power shift towards the African and Asian continents, but also the personal, almost post-apocalyptic, stories of the protagonists. The two main protagonists are Meena walking across an energy generating/harvesting bridge that spans the Arabian Sea from Mumbai to Djibouti, and Mariama who is travelling from Western Africa to Ethiopia. The stories eventually intersecting in crazy ways.
The bridge, or Trail, is quite something for a maindrop for the majority of Meena's journey.
The Trail seemed unreal: a floating pontoon bridge moored just offshore from Mumbai, which spanned the whole Arabian Sea, like a poem, not a physical thing. I asked Mohini what she thought it’d be like to walk on it all the way to Africa. She received my enthusiasm in her gracious way but cautioned that the Trail was all blank sky and faceless sea, the perfect canvas upon which to author my own madness.
The bridge, or Trail, is quite something for a maindrop for the majority of Meena's journey.
The Trail seemed unreal: a floating pontoon bridge moored just offshore from Mumbai, which spanned the whole Arabian Sea, like a poem, not a physical thing. I asked Mohini what she thought it’d be like to walk on it all the way to Africa. She received my enthusiasm in her gracious way but cautioned that the Trail was all blank sky and faceless sea, the perfect canvas upon which to author my own madness.
spikeanderson1's review against another edition
3.0
There is lots of good stuff in this book, but its main downfall is that it is confusing. Multiple character approaches, from the past and future, leading to a particular meeting in the present...I think...maybe. This, interwoven with self admitted questioning of reality, foreign names, and 2nd person perspectives - yikes. I did appreciate the near future sciFi ideas placed in India, Ethiopia, and between.