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uncleanjoe 's review for:
The Genesis of Misery
by Neon Yang
At first I was skeptical, I couldn't quite buy the protagonist's constant doubt in themselves as the ninth prophet, since we are privy to Misery's visions (which she labels as delusions). Also the use of pronouns frustrated me in the beginning (Misery explains their They/She pronouns towards the middle of the novel, which I think would have been better served earlier on). If disclosing pronouns is so commonplace in this future society, I would think they'd have come up with a more streamline way to do it.
That said, both the protagonist's internal doubts and the author's utilization of pronouns bothered me less and less as I proceeded through the novel, and by the end I was actually quite enraptured with it. Yang leaves plenty of space for a sequel, and since this is a Joan of Arc story we know there is more left. Finally, the cover and the title screamed Neon Genesis Evangelion to me, and I think this novel actually delivers on that promise. We get internal character struggles, we get an unknown seemingly inhuman threat, and finally we get our mech robot battles, all sprinkled with a seasoning of religious fervor and iconography. Good stuff, and I look forward to the second book of what looks to be a trilogy.
That said, both the protagonist's internal doubts and the author's utilization of pronouns bothered me less and less as I proceeded through the novel, and by the end I was actually quite enraptured with it. Yang leaves plenty of space for a sequel, and since this is a Joan of Arc story we know there is more left. Finally, the cover and the title screamed Neon Genesis Evangelion to me, and I think this novel actually delivers on that promise. We get internal character struggles, we get an unknown seemingly inhuman threat, and finally we get our mech robot battles, all sprinkled with a seasoning of religious fervor and iconography. Good stuff, and I look forward to the second book of what looks to be a trilogy.