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A review by connor_dragon
The Thief on the Winged Horse by Kate Mascarenhas
5.0
I liked this book significantly mroe than I thought I would.
Let's examine it through a few lenses.
The characters: Each is unique in a way. Mascarenhas has done good work in including people of different sexualities, abilities, ethnicities. The descriptions of Persephone's depression and anxiety, and Larkin's sociopathy are good. No person feels like a copy of any other - except in some ways they do. It's difficult to explain exactly how I feel about her characters except that it's like she has a mould, then adds furnishings to separate the characters from each other. I believe this, however, to be intentional, as it works with how the characters relate to one another.
As an example, Alastair and Conrad are the same man in different circumstances - because of course they are. Alastair idolises Conrad, sees his word as pure and perfect law, and would have modelled himself after him. You can tell that Hedwig and Persephone are cut from the same cloth, and as it turns out they're (almost certainly) sisters.
I'll also point out that I love the names in this book.
The plot:
On its face, the plot is fairly simple. There are three ongoing tensions: Larkin's mysterious objectives, which is tied with his mysterious past; the theft and return of the Paid Mourner; Larkin and Persephone's love story. Beneath this there is the ongoing old-fashioned-ness on the Eyot, casual and deeply-rooted sexism and homophobia most obvious. This doesn't really come to the front of much of the plot, although it's Persephone's basic motivation, and is tied up neatly and abruptly in the last few pages of the book.
The writing:
was engaging! I picked this book up after puting down with disgust another which had been labelled "unputdownable" - this book much better deserves that description. I was drawn back over and again, and continuing the story became more of a priority than it should have.
Style:
I wouldn't consider this high literature in any way. It fits perfectly in a pile of pulp. It's also one of those books with intricately detailed sex scenes in the middle of an otherwise normal novel. No subtleties were used in its design and construction, no nods or hints to insight the reader might glean.
Overall, I enjoyed this book greatly, and will probably pick up any other book by this author.
Let's examine it through a few lenses.
The characters: Each is unique in a way. Mascarenhas has done good work in including people of different sexualities, abilities, ethnicities. The descriptions of Persephone's depression and anxiety, and Larkin's sociopathy are good. No person feels like a copy of any other - except in some ways they do. It's difficult to explain exactly how I feel about her characters except that it's like she has a mould, then adds furnishings to separate the characters from each other. I believe this, however, to be intentional, as it works with how the characters relate to one another.
As an example, Alastair and Conrad are the same man in different circumstances - because of course they are. Alastair idolises Conrad, sees his word as pure and perfect law, and would have modelled himself after him. You can tell that Hedwig and Persephone are cut from the same cloth, and as it turns out they're (almost certainly) sisters.
I'll also point out that I love the names in this book.
The plot:
On its face, the plot is fairly simple. There are three ongoing tensions: Larkin's mysterious objectives, which is tied with his mysterious past; the theft and return of the Paid Mourner; Larkin and Persephone's love story. Beneath this there is the ongoing old-fashioned-ness on the Eyot, casual and deeply-rooted sexism and homophobia most obvious. This doesn't really come to the front of much of the plot, although it's Persephone's basic motivation, and is tied up neatly and abruptly in the last few pages of the book.
The writing:
was engaging! I picked this book up after puting down with disgust another which had been labelled "unputdownable" - this book much better deserves that description. I was drawn back over and again, and continuing the story became more of a priority than it should have.
Style:
I wouldn't consider this high literature in any way. It fits perfectly in a pile of pulp. It's also one of those books with intricately detailed sex scenes in the middle of an otherwise normal novel. No subtleties were used in its design and construction, no nods or hints to insight the reader might glean.
Overall, I enjoyed this book greatly, and will probably pick up any other book by this author.