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A review by prested
Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson
4.0
As a child Tan-Tan lived on Toussaint, a wealthy planet colonized by people from the Caribbean.
She grew up wealthy as the daughter of the governor of the colony, never having to want for anything.
That is until her father commits a crime and flees to New Half-Way Tree, a planet where criminals are exiled to, bringing his daughter with him.
There Tan-Tan is forced to experience a completely different life than she had previously.
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Trigger Warnings // Pedophilia, Sexual Violence, Rape, Incest, Abuse //
Firstly, I liked this book. The world building is fascinating and the characterization of Tan-Tan was so well done.
It's also written in Patois which was unexpected but I enjoyed the style of this book.
However, the story I read wasn't the one I was expecting.
I thought it was going to be more adventurey and it ended up being a book about processing trauma.
Don't get me wrong, the message this book presented was done amazingly, just unexpected.
How she desperately protected her abusers and how the adults, who supposedly cared for her, did nothing even though they suspected she was being abused.
She ultimately starting disassociating herself into 3 people, Tan-Tan, bad Tan-Tan and the Robber Queen, in an attempt to address the abuse she deals with.
She also tried to divide up her father into two people to disassociated the father she loved with the man that rapes her. But with her father the guilt of her killing him weighed her down a lot.
It was just so tragic that circumstances Tan-Tan was in.
Though, it was nice to see how she ultimately processes her trauma and tell people the truth.
Over all, all the characters were mostly well rounded.
I felt that the stepmother was a little one dimensional but she wasn't the main antagonist so I guess that's alright.
I personally was a little more interested in some of the throwaway worldbuilding in this book.
Such as the politics of Toussaint,, and
But that wasn't the story of this novel so I understand why the book didn't go into them.
The only weird thing about this book was the pacing, the end felt a little rushed.
She grew up wealthy as the daughter of the governor of the colony, never having to want for anything.
That is until her father commits a crime and flees to New Half-Way Tree, a planet where criminals are exiled to, bringing his daughter with him.
There Tan-Tan is forced to experience a completely different life than she had previously.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trigger Warnings // Pedophilia, Sexual Violence, Rape, Incest, Abuse //
Firstly, I liked this book. The world building is fascinating and the characterization of Tan-Tan was so well done.
It's also written in Patois which was unexpected but I enjoyed the style of this book.
However, the story I read wasn't the one I was expecting.
I thought it was going to be more adventurey and it ended up being a book about processing trauma.
Don't get me wrong, the message this book presented was done amazingly, just unexpected.
Spoiler
The way, throughout the book you could just feel Tan-Tan flipping emotions about the rapes she had to endured since she was eight and the abuse she received from her parents and her stepmother.How she desperately protected her abusers and how the adults, who supposedly cared for her, did nothing even though they suspected she was being abused.
She ultimately starting disassociating herself into 3 people, Tan-Tan, bad Tan-Tan and the Robber Queen, in an attempt to address the abuse she deals with.
She also tried to divide up her father into two people to disassociated the father she loved with the man that rapes her. But with her father the guilt of her killing him weighed her down a lot.
It was just so tragic that circumstances Tan-Tan was in.
Though, it was nice to see how she ultimately processes her trauma and tell people the truth.
Over all, all the characters were mostly well rounded.
I felt that the stepmother was a little one dimensional but she wasn't the main antagonist so I guess that's alright.
I personally was a little more interested in some of the throwaway worldbuilding in this book.
Such as the politics of Toussaint,
Spoiler
how those without impacts are discriminated againstSpoiler
the lack of privacy due to the Granny Nanny AI, whether or not people's personal freedoms are infringed upon.Spoiler
the rising tensions between the colonists and the natives.But that wasn't the story of this novel so I understand why the book didn't go into them.
The only weird thing about this book was the pacing, the end felt a little rushed.