dance64 's review for:

The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky

DID NOT FINISH: 57%

---

I tried giving this multiple chances since I'd enjoyed "Children of Time," but unfortunately I just couldn't get into it. Once it began to feel like a chore to pick this up, I knew I should call it quits. 57% in and I felt like nothing really happened to keep the story going for me, and all the characters overall felt extremely flat to me. Not only that, I found myself growing increasingly uncomfortable and frustrated with the LGBTQ+ representation. It felt like the author was using being queer or transgender as a personality trait, and it bothered me that Khan kept getting misgendered and that her identity at one point was practically stripped away to "exercise control" or to prove a point. Truthfully, LGBTQ+ characters don't need to be tragic figures in stories or experience constant abuse to be relevant; they can just exist like any other character and it still be perfectly acceptable.
This being said, I might still try to read his fantasy series because my major issues with this book were the pacing and the representation, and I don't want to completely give up on him without giving him another chance. This book definitely wasn't for me, but it's possible some of his other books are.