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A review by essinink
Equal of the Sun by Anita Amirrezvani
3.0
Somewhat to my surprise, I'm going to give this a solid "3".
I had to slog through the first third of this book. The writing at first felt cold and distant, overwrought at times and barely passing in others. I didn't particularly care for the narrator, either, which didn't help. The premise was interesting, though. I fully expected to give this two stars.
That said, as I continued to read, the book started to grow on me. Maybe the writing got better or the pacing improved, maybe I just got used to it. Regardless, by about 60% of the way through the book I had long since stopped setting it down to take a break.
The author allows the relationship between Pari and her servant to grow slowly, naturally, until the story peaks with events and emotions that are profoundly moving. That's when I admitted that I liked this book.
Things I could have done without:
Sex scenes. Generally not my thing. I acknowledge their existence, but I've never liked them.
The author also takes some interesting license with history. In fairness, for her chosen subject, there's not a lot of record to work with. I understand the need especially to invent servants to "fill in the blanks". More difficult to accept was a choice regarding Pari's sexuality that I found intriguing, but was subsequently disappointed to find no historical grounding either for or against.
I've already mentioned the writing, itself.
But, In sum... I liked it, It is flawed, as most endeavors are; I don't know if I'd reread it, but by the end of the book I definitely cared about the characters... and that definitely makes a difference.
I had to slog through the first third of this book. The writing at first felt cold and distant, overwrought at times and barely passing in others. I didn't particularly care for the narrator, either, which didn't help. The premise was interesting, though. I fully expected to give this two stars.
That said, as I continued to read, the book started to grow on me. Maybe the writing got better or the pacing improved, maybe I just got used to it. Regardless, by about 60% of the way through the book I had long since stopped setting it down to take a break.
The author allows the relationship between Pari and her servant to grow slowly, naturally, until the story peaks with events and emotions that are profoundly moving. That's when I admitted that I liked this book.
Things I could have done without:
Sex scenes. Generally not my thing. I acknowledge their existence, but I've never liked them.
The author also takes some interesting license with history. In fairness, for her chosen subject, there's not a lot of record to work with. I understand the need especially to invent servants to "fill in the blanks". More difficult to accept was a choice regarding Pari's sexuality that I found intriguing, but was subsequently disappointed to find no historical grounding either for or against.
I've already mentioned the writing, itself.
But, In sum... I liked it, It is flawed, as most endeavors are; I don't know if I'd reread it, but by the end of the book I definitely cared about the characters... and that definitely makes a difference.