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A review by meshuganush
The Grave's a Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley
Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.
I wanted to like this book but I just couldn't get into it. Tlon the one hand the main character really embodies the self confidence, entitledness and general worldview of a 12 year old.
On the other hand it just felt too much. Every other line was self congratulations of how smart she was. The character of Dogger was also subject to being held in the light of perfection although he felt more like a beloved family pet rather than a person.
So much of the book was taken up with self congratulations that narratively we haven't gotten very far and yet every transition was jarring and I wasn't sure how we got there. I consistently had to go back and lay close attention to how we got from one scene to the other.
Maybe with a different narrator I would have been able to get to the meat of the story but as it stands I chose not to finish it.
On the other hand it just felt too much. Every other line was self congratulations of how smart she was. The character of Dogger was also subject to being held in the light of perfection although he felt more like a beloved family pet rather than a person.
So much of the book was taken up with self congratulations that narratively we haven't gotten very far and yet every transition was jarring and I wasn't sure how we got there. I consistently had to go back and lay close attention to how we got from one scene to the other.
Maybe with a different narrator I would have been able to get to the meat of the story but as it stands I chose not to finish it.