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A review by luisvilla
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
4.0
achingly close to great
The good news: this book reminds me, deeply, of 100 Years of Solitude and Midnight’s Children. There is something about its ambition and framing and not-quite-fantasy, not-quite-mere-magico-realism that does recall those epic classics.
The bad news: this book reminds me of those classics so much that it’s failure to get there bothered me a lot. I came in with no expectations, but from the first chapter it swept me off my feet, to the point where I almost immediately wanted it to be Great and I hoped for it to be Great. And so instead the fact that it is merely Very Good almost came off as a disappointment.
The good news: this book reminds me, deeply, of 100 Years of Solitude and Midnight’s Children. There is something about its ambition and framing and not-quite-fantasy, not-quite-mere-magico-realism that does recall those epic classics.
The bad news: this book reminds me of those classics so much that it’s failure to get there bothered me a lot. I came in with no expectations, but from the first chapter it swept me off my feet, to the point where I almost immediately wanted it to be Great and I hoped for it to be Great. And so instead the fact that it is merely Very Good almost came off as a disappointment.