Scan barcode
kadomi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
WTF did I just read? Finishing this book left me quite confounded. It had a strong start, a confusing middle, and an absolute what the fuckery ending. I haven't been so confused by a book since reading Harrow the Ninth. Speaking of that series, the middle part vaguely reminded me of Gideon the Ninth, but way less cool.
In any case, this is a challengingly written sapphic revenge story that is very anti-capitalist. The first person narrator Marney (a terrible narrator, I kinda hated her) loses her family as a kid at a peaceful worker protest. Her family all worked in the ichorite industry, a mysterious metal that is driving industry, and Marney is a so-called lustertouched, highly sensitive to this metal to the point it makes her ill, but also able to manipulate it. Marney then runs into a band of bandits, let's say they're communist, as they're also plotting to overthrow evil nobility and capitalists. Oh, and just about everyone is a 'crawly', a lesbian.
Eventually, Marney falsely pretends to be a baron's daughter, in the running to marry the ichorite industrial's daughter, so she can finally move in and kill him to avenge her family. And then it gets weird...er, I should say.
I'll give it 3 stars because it was fascinating, but I can't honestly say I would recommend it to anyone, other than admiring that such queer literature exists today.
In any case, this is a challengingly written sapphic revenge story that is very anti-capitalist. The first person narrator Marney (a terrible narrator, I kinda hated her) loses her family as a kid at a peaceful worker protest. Her family all worked in the ichorite industry, a mysterious metal that is driving industry, and Marney is a so-called lustertouched, highly sensitive to this metal to the point it makes her ill, but also able to manipulate it. Marney then runs into a band of bandits, let's say they're communist, as they're also plotting to overthrow evil nobility and capitalists. Oh, and just about everyone is a 'crawly', a lesbian.
Eventually, Marney falsely pretends to be a baron's daughter, in the running to marry the ichorite industrial's daughter, so she can finally move in and kill him to avenge her family. And then it gets weird...er, I should say.
I'll give it 3 stars because it was fascinating, but I can't honestly say I would recommend it to anyone, other than admiring that such queer literature exists today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse
justalurkr's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Darker, grittier, and more explicit sex and violence than is to my taste.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, and War
Moderate: Child abuse and Lesbophobia