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A review by thebakersbooks
Chainbreaker by Tara Sim
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Gotta admit, I wasn't expecting so much both-sidesing of the British occupation of India from a half-Indian author. Ninety percent of the book does a solid job of acknowledging the atrocities of British colonialism, but the entire climax consists of the (British) main character being horrified at Indian people around him trying to free their country. A direct quote: "There's no black or white here. You think one side is the villain and one is the hero, but that's not the case. It's more complicated than that." Maybe one can ascribe this to the MC being deliberately written as flawed, but because this issue comes to the forefront at the very end of the book, there's no time to unpack or counter it.
I also dislike that, while the author made the deliberate choice to make gayness/same-sex relationships accepted (or at least tolerated) in Britain, she made it so they were outlawed in India. This is frustrating because in real life, queer people had a place in precolonial Indian culture and that only changed with the imposition of western morays as a result of imperialism.
Besides these considerable flaws, the book was also poorly paced. The first book was told from main character Danny's perspective, while this one was split between Danny, Daphne, and Colton; I suspect attempting to juggle three POVs is a large part of what weighed the pacing down for the first half of the book. In my opinion, steampunk worldbuilding and an interesting story concept do not make up for the above, and as such, I do not recommend this book and I likely will not finish the series.
content warnings: several mentions of colonial violence, some systemic; anti-Indian racism throughout; killing an animal for sport (by antagonistic character); homophobia and threats of forced outing of gay characters
I also dislike that, while the author made the deliberate choice to make gayness/same-sex relationships accepted (or at least tolerated) in Britain, she made it so they were outlawed in India. This is frustrating because in real life, queer people had a place in precolonial Indian culture and that only changed with the imposition of western morays as a result of imperialism.
Besides these considerable flaws, the book was also poorly paced. The first book was told from main character Danny's perspective, while this one was split between Danny, Daphne, and Colton; I suspect attempting to juggle three POVs is a large part of what weighed the pacing down for the first half of the book. In my opinion, steampunk worldbuilding and an interesting story concept do not make up for the above, and as such, I do not recommend this book and I likely will not finish the series.
content warnings: several mentions of colonial violence, some systemic; anti-Indian racism throughout; killing an animal for sport (by antagonistic character); homophobia and threats of forced outing of gay characters
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Colonisation
Minor: Homophobia