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A review by steph01924
Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King
3.0
This was a strange book. Pretty good, but strange. Definitely not what I was expecting. I've never read anything by A.S. King before, so maybe it's par for the course. [Edit: I lied, I've read Please Ignore Vera Dietz. Didn't realize that was King. So yes, some of this is definitely on par with how she writes; however, I really enjoyed Vera and this book a lot less, so I think my issues with this book are definitely more about the story itself than her overall writing style.) Glory, as a character, is a little too intense and gloomy for me. I could see Aubrey Plaza as April in Parks and Rec playing her easily. She says nothing of what she means (for the most part) and she's very in her own head. Plus she'd have the staring intensely at people while getting transmissions down.
The other thing I wasn't crazy about was the
Also, I know Darla is the impetus of so much for Glory, but I was really sick of reading her ramblings or Glory's thoughts on her ramblings. Obviously she was mentally unbalanced, and I sympathize with that, normally. But I guess my tolerance for READING about the mentally ill was just really low during this book, because I was getting super bored and frustrated with her weirdo photos and her 'deep' poems and whether or not she was really a brilliant, funny person or just a freaking selfish nutjob who took her own life. It was probably all wonderful and deep, but in my current mindset, I was feeling way too practical for this book. I wanted to tell everyone to get over themselves multiple times. /rant
While I may have enjoyed parts, these pieces just left me with some raised eyebrows.
The other thing I wasn't crazy about was the
Spoiler
reasoning behind the future civil war. Someone decided to make a law to stop women from basically doing anything in society? And this passed? And people just let it all happen? Huh? I dunno. I just call bullshit on this. It was just strange. I think we're supposed to assume that this future stuff is true, based on the visions Glory and Ellie see in the present coming true, so...yeah. Also, how convenient that all the people in Glory's small town have such important roles to play in the future civil war. Glad she could piece it all together using just people and their future offspring in a twenty mile radius.Also, I know Darla is the impetus of so much for Glory, but I was really sick of reading her ramblings or Glory's thoughts on her ramblings. Obviously she was mentally unbalanced, and I sympathize with that, normally. But I guess my tolerance for READING about the mentally ill was just really low during this book, because I was getting super bored and frustrated with her weirdo photos and her 'deep' poems and whether or not she was really a brilliant, funny person or just a freaking selfish nutjob who took her own life. It was probably all wonderful and deep, but in my current mindset, I was feeling way too practical for this book. I wanted to tell everyone to get over themselves multiple times. /rant
While I may have enjoyed parts, these pieces just left me with some raised eyebrows.