Scan barcode
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
2 🌟 CW: violence, murder, mob violence/lynching, sex, zombies, descriptions of blood and corpses, medical/body horror, ethnic cleansing mention, cannibalism mention, grotesque descriptions of mutated bodies, torture
I Initially bought Rosewater by Tade Thompson, because it's a scifi novel by a Nigerian author, but upon reading I was very disappointed.
We follow Kaaro, a Yoruba man in Nigeria in 2066, who works for a secret government agency called S45 (reminds me of Section 31 in Star Trek.) Kaara lives in Rosewater, a town that didn't exist until 11 years ago when extraterrestrial life crashed to earth and released viruses called Xenoforms. The xenoforms that were released by the alien had different effects on people. In Kaaro's case he became a psychic they call a Sensitive. It sort of reminded me of the show Sense8, but instead of a specific cohort, you can read all people.
I did not enjoy this book. I struggled to get through and seriously thought about dnfing it several times, but powered through anyway. I found the MC to be a misogynistic asshole, and didn't really have any redeeming qualities. I thought the going back and forth in time was a weird choice, since the flashbacks were all out of order, which made it a bit hard to follow.
I felt like the author didn't know which plot points to follow, so he just threw them all at you. There was even a zombie plot at one point. I wasn't quite sure what the point of Oyin Da's character was since it didn't seem to really go anywhere. There was also a weird sex thing happening that I thought was unnecessary.
This was very high concept scifi, and the author is clearly very smart and a talented writer, this story just wasn't for me. I will not be reading the rest of the Wormwood trilogy.
I Initially bought Rosewater by Tade Thompson, because it's a scifi novel by a Nigerian author, but upon reading I was very disappointed.
We follow Kaaro, a Yoruba man in Nigeria in 2066, who works for a secret government agency called S45 (reminds me of Section 31 in Star Trek.) Kaara lives in Rosewater, a town that didn't exist until 11 years ago when extraterrestrial life crashed to earth and released viruses called Xenoforms. The xenoforms that were released by the alien had different effects on people. In Kaaro's case he became a psychic they call a Sensitive. It sort of reminded me of the show Sense8, but instead of a specific cohort, you can read all people.
I did not enjoy this book. I struggled to get through and seriously thought about dnfing it several times, but powered through anyway. I found the MC to be a misogynistic asshole, and didn't really have any redeeming qualities. I thought the going back and forth in time was a weird choice, since the flashbacks were all out of order, which made it a bit hard to follow.
I felt like the author didn't know which plot points to follow, so he just threw them all at you. There was even a zombie plot at one point. I wasn't quite sure what the point of Oyin Da's character was since it didn't seem to really go anywhere. There was also a weird sex thing happening that I thought was unnecessary.
This was very high concept scifi, and the author is clearly very smart and a talented writer, this story just wasn't for me. I will not be reading the rest of the Wormwood trilogy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Medical trauma, Torture, and Sexual content
Minor: Genocide and Cannibalism
violent, but consensual (although questionable) sexual situations, grotesque descriptions of mutated bodiessarah984's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This is a really unique alien invasion story set in Nigeria in the 2060s, in a city that has built up around an alien biodome that mysteriously heals the sick once per year. The alien has also released a sort of spore into the atmosphere that allows some people to access special abilities like mind reading. The main character is a psychic who (mostly unwillingly) works for the government. His perspective is awful because he's an immature misogynist, but the story itself and the nature of colonization that it exposes are interesting.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Ableism, Cannibalism, Cancer, Drug abuse, and Slavery
atarihehe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I enjoyed reading this book. At first it was quite slow and hard to get invested into but after about 25% I was really into the story. I don't really mind books with forward-backward storylines but this one has like three or four timelines and they're not always in the same structure throughout the book so sometimes I need to think and count. The main character is a complicated dude. He's not very likeable, but not unlikeable either as he has many many flaws and basically a criminal past but he has his own weird philosophy in life. I went into this book quite blindly since I've forgotten about it after buying it months ago so I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of things. I like the science-y aspect of it, I like the multilayered characters, I like the worldbuilding. I like how even if it's quite futuristic it's still not very different from the world we live in right now. They have tech implants but they still have beggars at the traffic stop! Now that's some realism.
Many other reviewers have said that Kaaro, the main dude, is sexist, and I agree but it was mentioned in the book that he is sexist and that his boss realises it as well. It was quite annoying though reading his thoughts about women's thighs and other stuff that made him horny.
All that being said, I enjoy the worldbuilding and the story and everything that passed here. I think I'm going to read the second book because I'm quite intrigued in what could happen afterwards.
Many other reviewers have said that Kaaro, the main dude, is sexist, and I agree but it was mentioned in the book that he is sexist and that his boss realises it as well. It was quite annoying though reading his thoughts about women's thighs and other stuff that made him horny.
All that being said, I enjoy the worldbuilding and the story and everything that passed here. I think I'm going to read the second book because I'm quite intrigued in what could happen afterwards.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Cannibalism, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing
More...