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A review by bookaquarius
Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
After a shaky start I chose to finish it just for the plot (the plot of my Instagram, not the plot of the book). What I felt about the beginning held true throughout — I doubt this was intentionally written for an adult audience, the main character was in love with a ~benevolent~ oppressor, and there was a lot of very unserious behavior happening.
The writing itself was not to my taste. I think there was much to be desired in terms of characterization and world building. It was hard to figure where we were in time or place at any point. It’s odd to have characters go on a journey but seemingly cover no ground. The protagonist was used as a tool to very bluntly tell us every thing we needed to know, point by point, the second she saw it. This style left very little room for the reader’s consideration of the world or the themes. I think the best thing that could have happened in the editing room was deciding on the audience first and therefore rendering it unnecessary to explain very clear concepts and themes in such a heavy-handed way.
The main character was also not a favorite of mine. She was judgmental and hypocritical and it was difficult to understand why she found it reasonable to hold everyone but herself to an extremely high moral standard while under literal violent occupation. She was ultimately more interested in herself and her own history than anyone else around her. In the middle of people dying she’d be like, “wait you knew my father?” I’d be sick to my stomach if I was one of the people waiting on her to save me!
The writing itself was not to my taste. I think there was much to be desired in terms of characterization and world building. It was hard to figure where we were in time or place at any point. It’s odd to have characters go on a journey but seemingly cover no ground. The protagonist was used as a tool to very bluntly tell us every thing we needed to know, point by point, the second she saw it. This style left very little room for the reader’s consideration of the world or the themes. I think the best thing that could have happened in the editing room was deciding on the audience first and therefore rendering it unnecessary to explain very clear concepts and themes in such a heavy-handed way.
The main character was also not a favorite of mine. She was judgmental and hypocritical and it was difficult to understand why she found it reasonable to hold everyone but herself to an extremely high moral standard while under literal violent occupation. She was ultimately more interested in herself and her own history than anyone else around her. In the middle of people dying she’d be like, “wait you knew my father?” I’d be sick to my stomach if I was one of the people waiting on her to save me!