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rose_reads33's review
2.0
2.5 stars
This book was an odd one. The author has ideas, lots of them, and they’re certainly unique and interesting. But the writing is mostly bad, with some well written passages and some funny lines and turns of phrase. He manages to make very boring parts last an eternity and skip so quickly over the rest. Character development was very odd; it felt like we’d skipping a whole chunk and suddenly the author was talking about people and their relationships like we knew them well. Terry’s relationship with Eileen was honestly ridiculous, and made me feel like the author had no real idea how people aside from teenage boys experience attraction or love, like he was relying on what he’d heard more than what he knew. I appreciated the out-there story and ideas, but overall this was not really a good book.
This book was an odd one. The author has ideas, lots of them, and they’re certainly unique and interesting. But the writing is mostly bad, with some well written passages and some funny lines and turns of phrase. He manages to make very boring parts last an eternity and skip so quickly over the rest. Character development was very odd; it felt like we’d skipping a whole chunk and suddenly the author was talking about people and their relationships like we knew them well. Terry’s relationship with Eileen was honestly ridiculous, and made me feel like the author had no real idea how people aside from teenage boys experience attraction or love, like he was relying on what he’d heard more than what he knew. I appreciated the out-there story and ideas, but overall this was not really a good book.
blackgirlonmars's review
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really wanted to like this book, and altho I struggled with it, I did finish it (which was satisfying.) There are some interesting observations regarding class & wealth & some racist observations which I’m inclined to believe was meant to reflect a British reality. That being said there we’re absolutely no actual characters of color in this book.
piqnick14's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
I think this ended up being more abstract than I wanted it to be. Characters are meh, some of the rprose is good and the summary on the back cover sounded like it was right up my alley but it just ended up not being there.
annarella's review
3.0
There's potential, there's humour I found hard to follow the plot and it fell flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
sarahbythebook's review
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for a review!
I DNF'd this book at about 40%. I was already not really getting along great with this story, but the questionable way sex workers were discussed and the use of a racial slur for Roma people to describe a character just put a bad taste in my mouth.
The characters are all annoying, which is a shame. This book reminds me of the movie Hot Fuzz crossed with Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot plus a bit of magic. It tries to tackle class divides that plague cities like London. The premise of this story is interesting.
However, it just didn't work for me, and again, the casual racism in 2022 is a no-go for me.
I DNF'd this book at about 40%. I was already not really getting along great with this story, but the questionable way sex workers were discussed and the use of a racial slur for Roma people to describe a character just put a bad taste in my mouth.
The characters are all annoying, which is a shame. This book reminds me of the movie Hot Fuzz crossed with Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot plus a bit of magic. It tries to tackle class divides that plague cities like London. The premise of this story is interesting.
However, it just didn't work for me, and again, the casual racism in 2022 is a no-go for me.
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