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zosiablue's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Jesus, imagine this being your first published novel. Just stunning. A racial allegory involving elevators and detective noir and a Wizard of Oz mystique. It's better to go in knowing nothing. Don't try to read behind the lines. It's a beautiful story heavy with meaning but best interpreted later.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Kidnapping
Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Racism, Sexism, and Body horror
booksthatburn's review
informative
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
Lila Mae Watson is the first Black female elevator inspector ever in the department, she's an Intuitionist who can enter an elevator and "intuit" any defects. She's outnumbered by Empiricists in the department, who are almost all white and male, and eager to blame an Intuitionist when an elevator goes into freefall after Lila Mae's inspection.
The divide between Empiricists and Intuitionists seems like a simple ideological divide at first, but that central question becomes more complicated as Lila Mae learns more about Intuitionism's founder while investigating the crash. Lila Mae isn't the first Black inspector, and I'm unsure whether she's the first female one, but the combination of the two means that a nearly endless slurry of sexism and racism are directed her way, either singly or in combination. It's consistent but not constant, and whether and how characters disparage her is part of their characterization and contributes to the worldbuilding as a whole. The antagonists attempt to weaponize her identity for their own gain in a variety of ways, whether from things she chose (being an Intuitionist) or things she didn't choose (being Black and female).
There are long sections which contain delightful thoughts about elevators, including but not limited to competing theories of elevators, how the passenger exists in context with the elevator, where escalators fit in as vertical conveyances, and many more.
The mystery is tense and engaging, I was hooked almost immediately, became riveted about a third of the way in, and was completely engaged through to the end. Lila Mae is purposeful and conscientious, which are excellent qualities for the protagonist of a mystery. Excellently layered, I love this.
The divide between Empiricists and Intuitionists seems like a simple ideological divide at first, but that central question becomes more complicated as Lila Mae learns more about Intuitionism's founder while investigating the crash. Lila Mae isn't the first Black inspector, and I'm unsure whether she's the first female one, but the combination of the two means that a nearly endless slurry of sexism and racism are directed her way, either singly or in combination. It's consistent but not constant, and whether and how characters disparage her is part of their characterization and contributes to the worldbuilding as a whole. The antagonists attempt to weaponize her identity for their own gain in a variety of ways, whether from things she chose (being an Intuitionist) or things she didn't choose (being Black and female).
There are long sections which contain delightful thoughts about elevators, including but not limited to competing theories of elevators, how the passenger exists in context with the elevator, where escalators fit in as vertical conveyances, and many more.
The mystery is tense and engaging, I was hooked almost immediately, became riveted about a third of the way in, and was completely engaged through to the end. Lila Mae is purposeful and conscientious, which are excellent qualities for the protagonist of a mystery. Excellently layered, I love this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Torture
Moderate: Cursing, Classism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Excrement, Blood, Violence, Death, and Kidnapping
Minor: Drug use, Vomit, Car accident, Rape, Slavery, Animal death, Sexual content, and Fatphobia
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