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kaa 's review for:
Cards of Grief
by Jane Yolen
Ironically, I think my instant hatred of certain aspects of the world-building and plot delayed my realization of how little I liked the rest of the book. I finished the book thinking, well, I found many of the author's choices awful, but maybe there's an interesting message underneath. Upon reflection, however (with the recognition that perhaps I just didn't understand what she was trying to say), Cards of Grief didn't manage to offer me anything thought-provoking on the topics of grief and death. I found it a pretty generic first-contact story with some pretty icky aspects that ruined any chance for me to enjoy it.
The one thing I did really like was the writing and framing - I thought the use of non-chronological story-telling was lovely, and a great way to tell this type of story. If only the story had been better.
What I didn't like:
-the division of the people into thin, light-skinned Royals and fat, darker-skinned peasants who were most frequently described as stupid, unpleasant, and at one point were compared to monkeys. Nope. I hated this set-up from the start of the book, and the story only reinforced how gross this world-building was. (And before you ask whether the portrayal of Dr. Z balanced this out at all - sorry, no, especially when her weight was used as a punchline half the time.)
-the "Earth man falls in love with alien chick" plotline - I find this story type overdone and offputting in several ways
-the rapey-ness - most of the sex in this book felt like an obligation or imposition, which made it really unpleasant to read about. This was not helped by the occasional feeling of incestuousness.
-oh yeah, and let's add the sexual fixation on a teenage girl
-in general, I found the biology nonsensical
-I hated almost all of the characters
This book feels very much like a product of its time, and I definitely do not mean that in a positive or exculpatory way.
The one thing I did really like was the writing and framing - I thought the use of non-chronological story-telling was lovely, and a great way to tell this type of story. If only the story had been better.
What I didn't like:
-the division of the people into thin, light-skinned Royals and fat, darker-skinned peasants who were most frequently described as stupid, unpleasant, and at one point were compared to monkeys. Nope. I hated this set-up from the start of the book, and the story only reinforced how gross this world-building was. (And before you ask whether the portrayal of Dr. Z balanced this out at all - sorry, no, especially when her weight was used as a punchline half the time.)
-the "Earth man falls in love with alien chick" plotline - I find this story type overdone and offputting in several ways
-the rapey-ness - most of the sex in this book felt like an obligation or imposition, which made it really unpleasant to read about. This was not helped by the occasional feeling of incestuousness.
-oh yeah, and let's add the sexual fixation on a teenage girl
-in general, I found the biology nonsensical
-I hated almost all of the characters
This book feels very much like a product of its time, and I definitely do not mean that in a positive or exculpatory way.