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A review by thisiszoerose
Incensed by Ed Lin
1.0
I liked all the Taiwanese history and cultural tidbits woven throughout the novel; it made me want to visit some spots and made me wonder how much of it was true (are temples in Taipei really run by gangsters?).
And I didn’t like just about everything else. Not sure how this novel can be billed as a mystery when nothing particularly mysterious happens until about 3/4 of the way in. Instead of adding depth and nuance, the main character’s obsession with Joy Division just kinda read like a gimmicky encyclopedia-like regurgitation of band trivia; other characters were similarly flat. And the writing was clumsy at times — perhaps the most awkward bit was when an appetizing meal was compared to “scabs” that were “delicious.” No thanks.
Disappointed because I was hoping to find a Taiwanese series I could get into but I’ll definitely be skipping the rest.
And I didn’t like just about everything else. Not sure how this novel can be billed as a mystery when nothing particularly mysterious happens until about 3/4 of the way in. Instead of adding depth and nuance, the main character’s obsession with Joy Division just kinda read like a gimmicky encyclopedia-like regurgitation of band trivia; other characters were similarly flat. And the writing was clumsy at times — perhaps the most awkward bit was when an appetizing meal was compared to “scabs” that were “delicious.” No thanks.
Disappointed because I was hoping to find a Taiwanese series I could get into but I’ll definitely be skipping the rest.