A review by c3rem0nials
Altered Straits by Kevin Martens Wong

Did not finish book.

i really wanted to keep reading - the characters were promising, i liked that even formal displays of power like forms told their own stories. but i think where this book falters is that it just sinks itself into something that i couldn't comprehend. i think the premise was also just not built for a novel - as i read in the acknowledgements, this is a short story turned into a novel, and i suppose a lot of details were expanded too much and it just got very painful to read. i couldn't immerse myself in this, as much as i wanted to - kevin has a clear voice for the speculative that i enjoy, his works in lontar are really good so i was just disappointed i couldn't get into this as much as i'd liked.