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A review by frankiecastanea
Saturnalia by Stephanie Feldman
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“Saturnalia” is a weird, eerie little novel that has all the strongest foundational bones to be a great book. Personally, I felt like it was an inch away from being a hard hitting commentary on existentialism and our declining world, but not quite.
I picked up Feldman’s book because it takes place in Philadelphia (my home city) and I wasn’t disappointed by it as the backdrop including lovely little references that only a Philly person would get - Laurel Hill, City Hall, the Main Line, and this quote, specifically -
“Philadelphia is a big city to visitors and a small town to natives; we rarely leave, and when we do, we usually come back again, find homes near our parents, send our kids to the same schools we graduated from. It’s a fishbowl, a jar….” (107).
Within all the flowery language, the plot lingers, like the homunculus, right under the cloudy surface of a magical, alchemical liquid, stuttered between flashbacks and set up through five parts fashioned after the five fortune cards our main character pulls at the beginning of the story. I only wish that it had broken the surface and told me a bit more.
I linger between a 3.75 and a 4 star rating for this book - it didn’t blow me away. At the best of times, the plot was mysterious and entrenched between the lines of the Longest Night. At the worst of times, I felt like I, too, was lost in Saturnalia’s world of existentialism and alchemy, grasping for engagement and more, more, more. I love it for the feeling that this book encapsulates - that of sleepless nights, the past destroyed, the metaphors and movement through one very long Saturnalia. I dislike it for that very same feeling. It wasn’t what I expected - but aren’t the best books that way?
I picked up Feldman’s book because it takes place in Philadelphia (my home city) and I wasn’t disappointed by it as the backdrop including lovely little references that only a Philly person would get - Laurel Hill, City Hall, the Main Line, and this quote, specifically -
“Philadelphia is a big city to visitors and a small town to natives; we rarely leave, and when we do, we usually come back again, find homes near our parents, send our kids to the same schools we graduated from. It’s a fishbowl, a jar….” (107).
Within all the flowery language, the plot lingers, like the homunculus, right under the cloudy surface of a magical, alchemical liquid, stuttered between flashbacks and set up through five parts fashioned after the five fortune cards our main character pulls at the beginning of the story. I only wish that it had broken the surface and told me a bit more.
I linger between a 3.75 and a 4 star rating for this book - it didn’t blow me away. At the best of times, the plot was mysterious and entrenched between the lines of the Longest Night. At the worst of times, I felt like I, too, was lost in Saturnalia’s world of existentialism and alchemy, grasping for engagement and more, more, more. I love it for the feeling that this book encapsulates - that of sleepless nights, the past destroyed, the metaphors and movement through one very long Saturnalia. I dislike it for that very same feeling. It wasn’t what I expected - but aren’t the best books that way?