katieepe 's review for:

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang

3.0

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I enjoyed the worldbuilding and would love to know more about the civilization Yang invented. What is a saint? How does one become one? Will Misery ever break through the religious absolutism of their upbringing and discover why they interact with stones and seraphim the same way that Heretics do? Misery's journey from frightened prisoner to defiant prisoner and the themes around duty, constriction, and blind acceptance were consistently reinforced. However, I found Yang's prose very unpleasant. Their most annoying habit started on page 3, when they describe a character as "pale, dark-haired, all long and narrow limbs." They used this phrasing constantly - "Arms all strong and supportive," "a hollow puppet, all clay and brittleness," etc. They also lost me completely about 3/4 of the way through the book when they introduced holy pearl - PEARL IS NOT A STONE. I read the book in a single day because I brought it to jury duty. I'm rereading their Tensorate series at the same time and their first works seem much more tightly edited.