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bloodstarvedbeast's review against another edition
5.0
It's been quite a bit since I've read a book published in this decade whose prose is more complex than plain English and it's such a breath of fresh air. The writing is almost Romantic (as in the literary time period) in style, the novel maintains a limited first person POV throughout the book with occassional reminders the narrator is (re)telling this to a certain someone, thus dipping into second person on occasion. And what writing it us.
The style of the writing is almost dream like, as if told through the dissociative state of being sun poisoned. It makes sense, Marney our protagonist and POV is "lustertouched" or has been exposed to the highly magical, highly poisonous ichorite mineral while in the womb. Or in otherwords, has been exposed to fetal teratoxins. Her mother had no choice; her family was poor and they were foundry workers. For all the hallucinations, pain, acute ichorite poisoning when near the metal, and other psychotic effects, Marney can manipulate things made of ichorite. Which is how she lands in the Fingerbluffs; the rest, history. The author trusts the reader to pick up details, infer from relationships and scenes and circumstances to think about the writing and the themes: the work is as deeply anticapitalist as it is queer and tragic. As something that is becoming increasingly more difficult to find, I have to tip my hat to Clarke.
I could say more, but I believe I've said my piece. This is a much needed literary installment in what has colloquially been referred to as the "Lesbian Space Atrocities" subgenre. It is loud, reckless, sometimes comtemplative, sometimes brash, all radical and most importantly unique.
4.5/5 docking .5 cause in the last third there was a bit too much of exposition in some places. Highly recommend for readers of the Traitor Baru Comorant and the Locked Tomb.
The style of the writing is almost dream like, as if told through the dissociative state of being sun poisoned. It makes sense, Marney our protagonist and POV is "lustertouched" or has been exposed to the highly magical, highly poisonous ichorite mineral while in the womb. Or in otherwords, has been exposed to fetal teratoxins. Her mother had no choice; her family was poor and they were foundry workers. For all the hallucinations, pain, acute ichorite poisoning when near the metal, and other psychotic effects, Marney can manipulate things made of ichorite. Which is how she lands in the Fingerbluffs; the rest, history. The author trusts the reader to pick up details, infer from relationships and scenes and circumstances to think about the writing and the themes: the work is as deeply anticapitalist as it is queer and tragic. As something that is becoming increasingly more difficult to find, I have to tip my hat to Clarke.
I could say more, but I believe I've said my piece. This is a much needed literary installment in what has colloquially been referred to as the "Lesbian Space Atrocities" subgenre. It is loud, reckless, sometimes comtemplative, sometimes brash, all radical and most importantly unique.
4.5/5 docking .5 cause in the last third there was a bit too much of exposition in some places. Highly recommend for readers of the Traitor Baru Comorant and the Locked Tomb.
nomonbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I ended up really enjoying it. The pacing was a bit fast and I found myself struggling to keep up in some ways and in some places. I abandoned the thought of knowing exactly who each of the massive cast of characters were and focussed more on vibes. But, I had a tonne of fun with this, it made me laugh out loud at points, it shocked me at points and it had me like desperately rooting for murder at quite a few points too. Did it deliver? I think yes it did.
cmgmaine's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
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? No
3.0
polychrome's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
slow-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
3.0
A complex book full of complex ideas and language. I found the language hard to follow at times. It was hard to keep track of all the characters and their importance to the story. Loved the creativity of the world and the characters.
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
apcicc's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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? Yes
3.5
rabelais's review
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
idk, based on the description and who the recommendations have come from, I should have really enjoyed this. it could be that I just didn't like Ortiz's narration, which was pretty uneven while they slid in and out of there 3rd person narration accent, sometimes getting really thick and sometimes sounding like, well, Ortiz themself.
jtvarsos's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-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? Yes
4.0