Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by inkandplasma
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
Did not finish book.
DNF @ 20%
I have mixed feelings about this book. The final nail in the coffin for me was the book repeating the same exact description two paragraphs apart in a way that didn't feel like it was done for effect but just repetitive. That's kind of my problem with the whole book. As a novella or a short story, I would love this. I loved Aunt Marla, Alex and Beatrice and this idea of this huge known fact being repeatedly erased by those in charge. I liked the combined faux-academic texts and memoir writing. Unfortunately, already by 20%, I was bored of it. Every academic text section was telling me the same thing over and over again, and even in the memoirs there was nothing new happening. It felt a little patronising to have the same information told to me again and again, and very much like I was being told how to feel - you can only belabour a point so far. The writing itself is decent, if a little repetitive, but this ultimately couldn't drive me to keep picking it up.
I have mixed feelings about this book. The final nail in the coffin for me was the book repeating the same exact description two paragraphs apart in a way that didn't feel like it was done for effect but just repetitive. That's kind of my problem with the whole book. As a novella or a short story, I would love this. I loved Aunt Marla, Alex and Beatrice and this idea of this huge known fact being repeatedly erased by those in charge. I liked the combined faux-academic texts and memoir writing. Unfortunately, already by 20%, I was bored of it. Every academic text section was telling me the same thing over and over again, and even in the memoirs there was nothing new happening. It felt a little patronising to have the same information told to me again and again, and very much like I was being told how to feel - you can only belabour a point so far. The writing itself is decent, if a little repetitive, but this ultimately couldn't drive me to keep picking it up.