Reviews

Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi

narratricenessa's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I received an eARC of this book through NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher, Head of Zeus, in exchange for an honest review. 

With echoes of Renaissance Italy, The Godfather, and Game of Thrones, Navola is a stunning feat of world-building and a mesmerizing depiction of drive and will.  

When I first saw the blurb and the above quote about Paolo Bacigalupi's novel Navola, I was greatly intrigued, for it seemed exactly like the type of book I would enjoy and maybe even say it was written for me. Unfortunately, and I am sad to say this, Navola was not the book for me.

Despite the intriguing premise and the promise of complex political machinations, intrigues, conspiracies and events that would keep the reader flicking through the pages long into the night Navola slowly muddles through its plot. Although I don't mind slow starts, especially in epic fantasy, the writing drags out and frequently unnecessarily emphasises lust, desire, sex, nudity and seduction (especially by female characters), thus forcing the reader out of the enjoyment of the plot and making them wonder why the author keeps stressing this and going on and on about this. 

It does not provide any new information or insight about the characters we didn't know or deduced previously, nor does it deepen our understanding of the characters and plot. One has to continuously wonder why the author has dedicated so much space to emphasise that the main protagonist and narrator was a horny teenager that was simultaneously fascinated by sex and revolted by it? 

However, Navola's biggest "crimes" (in my opinion) aren't its dragged-out writing or the unnecessary emphasis on sex or the portrait of characters (women portrayed as seductresses, or femme fatales or naive innocents), but rather the fact that I just stopped caring about the characters and the plot at a certain point in the book. I just wanted to reach the ending so I was done with the book because I could not anymore. This is a terrible shame because this book has an excellent premise, but the execution just fell flat to me. 

rebicon's review

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1 star đź’«

Sadly, this wasn’t the book for me and I did not finish the book. This was marketed as an epic fantasy but it is not, with only mentions of a dragon’s eye. If you’re one who is interested in historical fiction with heavy political themes, this is the book for you.

Overall, the book is very slow paced and I really wish there was a glossary so I could follow what I assume is Italian or Latin phrases, which were partly explained, and go back for reference. I wanted to keep going to keep trying to give the book more and more of a chance, but I sadly couldn’t stick with this one. It’s very hard for me to not finish a book so i was disappointed. 

There wasn’t anything at the beginning that happened to truly draw me in and feel connected to Davico as the main character. I don’t empathize or relate to him. There is a lot of information thrown at you so it was a little hard for me to follow along. I believe a glossary and a map could help with that. 

I haven’t read very many first person books in a while and it was refreshing to see, especially as there are parts where Davico is talking to us, the reader. Davico starts the story off as a young boy who looks up to his father, a man with strong political power. There are time jumps over several chapters that disrupt the flow of the story and quite frankly reading the chapter where he hit puberty made me uncomfortable. It could have been the way it was written or how I am as a person but that was a no go for me. I can understand and am all for curiosity, but that’s not the way to do it and made me feel even more disconnected from the character. He became someone I didn’t want to root for. Celia is probably the most interesting character here due to what has happened to her and how she’s choosing to survive but not a lot is going on to further drive me to finish either of their stories.

I received an eARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  

kayceeisbookish's review

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dark informative mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book wasn't what I was expecting. It's listed as fantasy (due to the existence of dragons and the gids in the in-universe lore), but it was mostly about a son growing up in a political and very tense business family environment. He learns how to take on the grim and sometimes gritty business. Great writing style and world building, just not the type of story for me. This will definitely be someone's favorite book, though.
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srm's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I love the worldbuilding, and faux-Renaissance fantasy is always a favorite. It got really dark, though, as in I wasn't sure I wanted to keep reading, but I took a break and then plowed on. Although there is hope at the end, it's so tempered with darkness at the protagonist's elbow (as he would himself admit), that while I'm interested to see how this world plays out, I'm not sure how actively excited I am to see it all end miserably. The writing is excellent, and the characters are very compelling--I just think I don't have the same taste for grimdark that I used to.  
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rhack05's review

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3.0

There are definitely parts of this book that are interesting and I enjoyed some of it but I just cannot seem to care what happens. I just felt like this book said a lot of stuff without really saying much at all. This book seems to move in slow motion for me and as much as I wanted to love it I just can't see myself finishing it. Sadly I have to DNF at 50%.  I am sure plenty of readers will love this one and it's not bad, it's just not for me. 

Thank you NetGalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

wyattbair's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

gwynnas's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

Very slow but the last quarter really made it for me. Wish there had been a bit more fantasy but I’m excited for the sequel 
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