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A review by stephxsu
The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman
2.0
Well. Erm. Humm.
After meaning to read this book for years, I wanted to like this so much more than I did!!!!! Yes, I am using an excess of punctuation here because I feel like my disappointment is justified. So many readers I know say that this book was one of their favorites; that they wanted to be, or be friends with, Sally Lockhart; that rereading this beloved gem never failed them.
My biggest qualm with THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE is that Sally Lockhart feels like the quintessential "un-protagonist." For a character with an eponymous series name and lots written up about her in the back cover synopsis, Sally spends a lot of time off the page. The narration divides its time between Sally, the villains, Jim the plucky errand boy, Frederick the photographer, and who knows who else. While it was not bad that we spent some time following Jim's, Frederick's, the villains' footsteps around, I felt like the synopsis misled me to believe that I'd learn more about Sally, that I'd come to understand how she thinks, how she operates.
Alas, not only does Sally not have much narration time, rendering her still unfamiliar to me, but she also doesn't DO much of anything in this book. The synopsis makes her out to be this female wunderkind detective force to be reckoned it, when actually I feel like she does a lot of sitting at home, waiting for others (read: the male characters) to get back from their excursions and fill her in on what they've done. For a character that's supposed to be the protagonist, Sally really feels two steps behind everyone else on this case. Cementing my view that the series was named incorrectly was the fact that. Then the climactic scenes occur in which the guys get to do a lot of fighting and Sally is merely hormonal. Puh-lease. I don't care whichever way you spin it, Sally is not "intrepid" for tearfully enduring the consequences of her unknown history and for figuring out something that another character already figured out before her.
For a book with a female protagonist, THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE spends a disappointingly disproportionate time showing us that actually it's the boys who still get to do the exciting and essential parts of crime-solving. Feminist I find this book is not. Try Y. S. Lee's impressive The Agency Victorian mystery series if you truly want to see a smart and resourceful teen female detective in action.
After meaning to read this book for years, I wanted to like this so much more than I did!!!!! Yes, I am using an excess of punctuation here because I feel like my disappointment is justified. So many readers I know say that this book was one of their favorites; that they wanted to be, or be friends with, Sally Lockhart; that rereading this beloved gem never failed them.
My biggest qualm with THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE is that Sally Lockhart feels like the quintessential "un-protagonist." For a character with an eponymous series name and lots written up about her in the back cover synopsis, Sally spends a lot of time off the page. The narration divides its time between Sally, the villains, Jim the plucky errand boy, Frederick the photographer, and who knows who else. While it was not bad that we spent some time following Jim's, Frederick's, the villains' footsteps around, I felt like the synopsis misled me to believe that I'd learn more about Sally, that I'd come to understand how she thinks, how she operates.
Alas, not only does Sally not have much narration time, rendering her still unfamiliar to me, but she also doesn't DO much of anything in this book. The synopsis makes her out to be this female wunderkind detective force to be reckoned it, when actually I feel like she does a lot of sitting at home, waiting for others (read: the male characters) to get back from their excursions and fill her in on what they've done. For a character that's supposed to be the protagonist, Sally really feels two steps behind everyone else on this case. Cementing my view that the series was named incorrectly was the fact that
Spoiler
Sally basically gets gypped out of having her crowning moment! Through putting herself in an opium-induced trance, she figures out the secret behind the ruby, but it turns out that JIM already figured it out chapters ago, but just didn't tell her for fear of disappointing her or whatnotFor a book with a female protagonist, THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE spends a disappointingly disproportionate time showing us that actually it's the boys who still get to do the exciting and essential parts of crime-solving. Feminist I find this book is not. Try Y. S. Lee's impressive The Agency Victorian mystery series if you truly want to see a smart and resourceful teen female detective in action.