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A review by thebakersbooks
Early Riser by Jasper Fforde
3.0
3/5 stars — too quirky for me; your mileage may vary
Early Riser was an unknown quantity when I picked it up. The synopsis sounded interesting and I've read and enjoyed some of Jasper Fforde's middle grade novels, but I wasn't sure what to expect from his writing for adults. Although there were several aspects of this book I liked, it ultimately missed the mark for me.
I appreciated Fforde's handling of characters' genders. The main character, Charlie, is always mentioned by name rather than pronoun (which Fforde has confirmed was intentional), leaving their gender ambiguous. That experimental narrative choice worked well for me, although a few other reviews mention finding it confusing. There was also a transgender character, and I loved that Charlie was never conflicted about continuing to refer to him by the correct pronouns after his birth gender came up.
The story also included a neurodiverse character with split personalities. While it was refreshing that most other characters took her condition in stride and that she was a real, mulitdimensional person rather than a caricature, the fact that her personalities were polar opposites, one of which was textbook evil with few redeeming qualities, reminded me of the tired portrayals of neurodivergence as scary/dangerous in popular media.
From a technical standpoint, I also had issues with the novel's pacing. The first act felt slow, which made sense since it allowed readers to gain footing and understand the world. The second act continued to lag, however, relying on dream sequences and the MC's confusion to advance the plot, which effectively killed the tension. As a result, the third act felt rushed as pieces finally fell into place. (I'd also argue that the rapid-fire nature of the events leading up to the climax contributed to my sense that Charlie got deus-ex-machina'ed into a position of narrative prominence rather than growing to it naturally as a result of plot events and character development.)
Finally, I wasn't a fan of the tonal dissonance that stemmed from the juxtaposition of gory deaths with Fforde's signature brand of humor. In The Last Dragonslayer series, which falls on the border between middle grade and young adult, his tongue-in-cheek humor and whimsical worldbuilding were fantastic. In Early Riser they eroded the serious moments' impact and (in my opinion) made Charlie's occasional thoughts of/allusions to sex deeply uncomfortable. I've enjoyed "quirky" books for older readers in the past (Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne, for instance), but this wasn't one I liked.
As I said above, other readers' enjoyment of this novel may be very different from mine since most of my judgments were based on the story striking sour notes for me rather than on actual flaws in the writing. I'd recommend this novel, albeit with reservations, to readers who've enjoyed Fforde's other adult books or are interested in a distinctive and somewhat experimental narrative style.
Early Riser was an unknown quantity when I picked it up. The synopsis sounded interesting and I've read and enjoyed some of Jasper Fforde's middle grade novels, but I wasn't sure what to expect from his writing for adults. Although there were several aspects of this book I liked, it ultimately missed the mark for me.
I appreciated Fforde's handling of characters' genders. The main character, Charlie, is always mentioned by name rather than pronoun (which Fforde has confirmed was intentional), leaving their gender ambiguous. That experimental narrative choice worked well for me, although a few other reviews mention finding it confusing. There was also a transgender character, and I loved that Charlie was never conflicted about continuing to refer to him by the correct pronouns after his birth gender came up.
The story also included a neurodiverse character with split personalities. While it was refreshing that most other characters took her condition in stride and that she was a real, mulitdimensional person rather than a caricature, the fact that her personalities were polar opposites, one of which was textbook evil with few redeeming qualities, reminded me of the tired portrayals of neurodivergence as scary/dangerous in popular media.
From a technical standpoint, I also had issues with the novel's pacing. The first act felt slow, which made sense since it allowed readers to gain footing and understand the world. The second act continued to lag, however, relying on dream sequences and the MC's confusion to advance the plot, which effectively killed the tension. As a result, the third act felt rushed as pieces finally fell into place. (I'd also argue that the rapid-fire nature of the events leading up to the climax contributed to my sense that Charlie got deus-ex-machina'ed into a position of narrative prominence rather than growing to it naturally as a result of plot events and character development.)
Finally, I wasn't a fan of the tonal dissonance that stemmed from the juxtaposition of gory deaths with Fforde's signature brand of humor. In The Last Dragonslayer series, which falls on the border between middle grade and young adult, his tongue-in-cheek humor and whimsical worldbuilding were fantastic. In Early Riser they eroded the serious moments' impact and (in my opinion) made Charlie's occasional thoughts of/allusions to sex deeply uncomfortable. I've enjoyed "quirky" books for older readers in the past (Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne, for instance), but this wasn't one I liked.
As I said above, other readers' enjoyment of this novel may be very different from mine since most of my judgments were based on the story striking sour notes for me rather than on actual flaws in the writing. I'd recommend this novel, albeit with reservations, to readers who've enjoyed Fforde's other adult books or are interested in a distinctive and somewhat experimental narrative style.