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sage01 's review for:
The Silkworm
by Robert Galbraith
Wildly mixed feelings. I had to stop several times to rant about this book before I could continue, and in the end I don't think any of my rants are worth rehashing here. Rowling is very (very) good at showing characterization through action and interaction, and the strongest parts of this are the character moments. The extensive meta on the press, the publishing business, and transformative works is also pretty great. The plot is not. I also had a hell of a hard time with some of the disability politics and denial concerning Strike as an amputee and user of a prosthetic and sometimes unwilling user of a cane, not to mention the image of a person who needs a cane for balance using it to defend themselves from attack. I can tell you from experience that you brace yourself with the cane and use your available arm/leg for defense -- or, you know, flee. Otherwise, you end up on the ground like a turtle on its back, all too vulnerable. Yes, this is a huge personal pet peeve of mine as a disabled person, but I just can't see an amputee swinging their cane instead of bracing and throwing a punch.
Anyway. All in all I wish I'd either liked it more or hated it more. It's falling in that horrible ambivalent middle area where I'm unsatisfied but still at least partially charmed. So frustrating.
Queer-interest tag for complex and well-done transwoman character, as well as other incidental queer people. Disability tag for a great many characters with sundry mental and physical disabilities and chronic ailments, really brilliantly debunking the nasty old trope of the evil cripple (TM).
Anyway. All in all I wish I'd either liked it more or hated it more. It's falling in that horrible ambivalent middle area where I'm unsatisfied but still at least partially charmed. So frustrating.
Queer-interest tag for complex and well-done transwoman character, as well as other incidental queer people. Disability tag for a great many characters with sundry mental and physical disabilities and chronic ailments, really brilliantly debunking the nasty old trope of the evil cripple (TM).