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A review by laurareads87
Rose/House by Arkady Martine
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Having absolutely loved Martine's Teixcalaan duology, I was happy to pick up a copy of Rose/House, a novella about a house that is an AI that holds the remains and estate of its deceased architect; when the house, which is entirely off limits except to one archivist once per year, reports a dead body on its premises, the local precinct must figure out how anyone got into the house in the first place and how, if at all, anyone left it.
I feel neither very happy nor disappointed -- after finishing this novella, I cannot say it left me with very strong feelings at all. Compared to Teixcalaan, this just didn't feel especially novel or interesting, and I found that I did not particularly care who was doing what or what happened to anyone in the story.
What worked for me: Martine's an absolutely fantastic writer and the atmosphere is rendered in great detail despite the book's short length. Rose House, the house/AI, is creepy. Its voice, its shape, its artificial 'personality' - creepy. The reader is also given just enough detail about the near-future wider world to be interested and to feel like this is a fully formed universe.
What didn't work for me: the mystery didn't feel especially mysterious and the characters weren't interesting. Some theoretical questions about AI and art could've been explored, but weren't in any way that felt satisfying. I was left feeling like the book was trying to be deeper and more philosophical than it actually was.
I feel neither very happy nor disappointed -- after finishing this novella, I cannot say it left me with very strong feelings at all. Compared to Teixcalaan, this just didn't feel especially novel or interesting, and I found that I did not particularly care who was doing what or what happened to anyone in the story.
What worked for me: Martine's an absolutely fantastic writer and the atmosphere is rendered in great detail despite the book's short length. Rose House, the house/AI, is creepy. Its voice, its shape, its artificial 'personality' - creepy. The reader is also given just enough detail about the near-future wider world to be interested and to feel like this is a fully formed universe.
What didn't work for me: the mystery didn't feel especially mysterious and the characters weren't interesting. Some theoretical questions about AI and art could've been explored, but weren't in any way that felt satisfying. I was left feeling like the book was trying to be deeper and more philosophical than it actually was.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Murder