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A review by havanamac
Once a Monster by Robert Dinsdale
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I was really excited for a retelling of a Greek myth however, for me this book fell short. I’ll start with the good, 1800 London is an amazing setting for the Minotaur myth, the links between the sewers/streets and the labyrinth was imaginative and believable and the writing style was enchanting.
My issue is with the overall style, the book was a Dickensian twist on the age old question of what makes man vs beast, without the nuance of Shelley. I’m not sure if this was due to the main narrator only being 10 but for a character driven book there was not enough time taken to delve into any the characters psyche.
There were definitely the beginnings of character development however, this fell short for me. In addition the (3) female characters in the whole book were forced into such dull archetypes eg Sally-Anne is just “mother” and only has one catch phrase, and it felt like the author made 0 effort to build them into the theme of man vs beast as opposed to the male characters who had been fleshed out a little (although still not enough to really explore the “once a monster?” theme).
In the end I believe that the author made a conscious decision to write a character focussed book with an incredibly nuanced theme, but did not really make an effort analyse the characters decisions or explore their reasoning enough to produce this.
My issue is with the overall style, the book was a Dickensian twist on the age old question of what makes man vs beast, without the nuance of Shelley. I’m not sure if this was due to the main narrator only being 10 but for a character driven book there was not enough time taken to delve into any the characters psyche.
There were definitely the beginnings of character development however, this fell short for me. In addition the (3) female characters in the whole book were forced into such dull archetypes eg Sally-Anne is just “mother” and only has one catch phrase, and it felt like the author made 0 effort to build them into the theme of man vs beast as opposed to the male characters who had been fleshed out a little (although still not enough to really explore the “once a monster?” theme).
In the end I believe that the author made a conscious decision to write a character focussed book with an incredibly nuanced theme, but did not really make an effort analyse the characters decisions or explore their reasoning enough to produce this.