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A review by elenasquareeyes
Nineveh by Henrietta Rose-Innes
2.0
Katya Grubbs, like her father, deals with the unwanted and unappreciated. In contrast to her father’s methods, she is in the business of pest relocation, not pest extermination. Katya’s business comes to the attention of a property developer whose luxury estate on the edge of Cape Town has been standing empty due to an infestation of mysterious insects. As Katya investigates the chaotic urban wilderness of Nineveh she must confront some unwelcome intrusions from her own past.
I found Nineveh pretty hard to get into and at times quite a slow read. It was a very put-downable book, once I was reading I could get through 40 or 50 pages easily but I never felt like I just had to get back to it after I put it down for whatever reason. I think that was maybe down to the writing style, it was quite floaty and dreamlike in some places – especially when something would remind Katya of something from her past.
Katya’s relationship with her father is interesting yet unsettling as he is almost unintentionally abusive towards her and her sister. What happened to them when they were young is abuse but Katya is so blasé about it that it’s very uncomfortable to read sometimes. When you start seeing the similarities between Katya and her father you start to think she will never be happy or “normal” because of such an unusual childhood. They are interesting characters to see bounce off one another but I didn’t like either of them.
That’s the thing with Nineveh, I didn’t like any of the characters. That might be in part due to the fact the book is from Katya’s point of view and she naturally keeps people at arm’s length, even her family, but I didn’t really like Katya much either.
When Katya is in the Nineveh complex, it is an eerie and unsettling place. That came across really well as you were just waiting to discover what sort of infestation the place had and how would Katya deal with it. The problem was there never felt like there was any payoff to what was happening and Katya was just a spectator in her own narrative.
Nineveh just wasn’t for me. Not a lot really happened and I just didn’t like the characters or the writing style. Nineveh as a place was interesting and when the book was set there I enjoyed it more but otherwise it was a pretty dull read for me.
I found Nineveh pretty hard to get into and at times quite a slow read. It was a very put-downable book, once I was reading I could get through 40 or 50 pages easily but I never felt like I just had to get back to it after I put it down for whatever reason. I think that was maybe down to the writing style, it was quite floaty and dreamlike in some places – especially when something would remind Katya of something from her past.
Katya’s relationship with her father is interesting yet unsettling as he is almost unintentionally abusive towards her and her sister. What happened to them when they were young is abuse but Katya is so blasé about it that it’s very uncomfortable to read sometimes. When you start seeing the similarities between Katya and her father you start to think she will never be happy or “normal” because of such an unusual childhood. They are interesting characters to see bounce off one another but I didn’t like either of them.
That’s the thing with Nineveh, I didn’t like any of the characters. That might be in part due to the fact the book is from Katya’s point of view and she naturally keeps people at arm’s length, even her family, but I didn’t really like Katya much either.
When Katya is in the Nineveh complex, it is an eerie and unsettling place. That came across really well as you were just waiting to discover what sort of infestation the place had and how would Katya deal with it. The problem was there never felt like there was any payoff to what was happening and Katya was just a spectator in her own narrative.
Nineveh just wasn’t for me. Not a lot really happened and I just didn’t like the characters or the writing style. Nineveh as a place was interesting and when the book was set there I enjoyed it more but otherwise it was a pretty dull read for me.