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A review by hanaa
Dream London by Tony Ballantyne
2.0
I picked this book up from the library because it seemed like a really good premise, and for the most part, the world bulding was great. Where it fell flat was with the protagonist. Jim Wedderburn just isn't likeable at all, and I couldn't bring myself to root for him in any way. He's a dick, honestly and I hated the whole Elizabeth Baines subplot because it didn't add anything to the story and them getting together & his feelings for her came out of nowhere and felt like an undeserved reward for barely doing anything.
It seems like I'm really shitting on this book lol but it just felt like a bunch of plot points very precariously strung together with nothing really happening and no resolution. The world building was fantastic, as I said before, but you couldn't feel the stakes, or the rising urgency and need for Dream London to be destroyed. IMHO, it would have been much more interesting if the story was from Bill's perspective because of the effect Dream London was having on her-the prostitution, her having only three weeks until the changes became permanent and she became another prostitute in another brothel. Or even Anna-the teenager who is determined to change things back because she sees the effect the changes are having. The way women are written in this book was horribly degrading and I think that might have taken me out of it too, like Jim refusing to believe he's a pimp even when Bill confronts him about it and the whole 'I give my girls candy though!' and this whole exchange made my skin crawl.
"Do you give it to your girls?"
"some of them take it, yes."
"Do you give it to them?"
"Hey, they'd only buy it from someone else! at least from me they get the real thing, uncut."....."MTPH helps the girls, It helps them to get on with the job"
"Go on, Captain Wedderburn. How does it help them?"
"It gives them empathy with their client. It helps them to feel what their client feels," i added. "Their clients pleasure becomes their pleasure."
"And if their client despises them?"...."So if the women have taken MTPH, and they feel that loathing directed against themselves, what then?"
"Then they will feel that loathing, and they will enjoy it"
Plus the whole thing where maids were dressed as porno fantasies and the waitresses in Angel tower were dressed entirely for the visual gratification of the men who worked there was disgusting.
It just seemed that the story could have been much more engaging if it was told from the perspective of ANYONE other than Jim, especially because I felt like he didn't try to change himself, to become a better person even though he's fully aware of how horrible he is and admits it several times. He doesn't redeem himself at all and the only reason I finished the book was because I wanted to know how they'd bring back modern London, and not because I particularly cared about the characters.
Honey Pepper's was fantastic though.
It seems like I'm really shitting on this book lol but it just felt like a bunch of plot points very precariously strung together with nothing really happening and no resolution. The world building was fantastic, as I said before, but you couldn't feel the stakes, or the rising urgency and need for Dream London to be destroyed. IMHO, it would have been much more interesting if the story was from Bill's perspective because of the effect Dream London was having on her-the prostitution, her having only three weeks until the changes became permanent and she became another prostitute in another brothel. Or even Anna-the teenager who is determined to change things back because she sees the effect the changes are having. The way women are written in this book was horribly degrading and I think that might have taken me out of it too, like Jim refusing to believe he's a pimp even when Bill confronts him about it and the whole 'I give my girls candy though!' and this whole exchange made my skin crawl.
"some of them take it, yes."
"Do you give it to them?"
"Hey, they'd only buy it from someone else! at least from me they get the real thing, uncut."....."MTPH helps the girls, It helps them to get on with the job"
"Go on, Captain Wedderburn. How does it help them?"
"It gives them empathy with their client. It helps them to feel what their client feels," i added. "Their clients pleasure becomes their pleasure."
"And if their client despises them?"...."So if the women have taken MTPH, and they feel that loathing directed against themselves, what then?"
"Then they will feel that loathing, and they will enjoy it"
Plus the whole thing where maids were dressed as porno fantasies and the waitresses in Angel tower were dressed entirely for the visual gratification of the men who worked there was disgusting.
It just seemed that the story could have been much more engaging if it was told from the perspective of ANYONE other than Jim, especially because I felt like he didn't try to change himself, to become a better person even though he's fully aware of how horrible he is and admits it several times. He doesn't redeem himself at all and the only reason I finished the book was because I wanted to know how they'd bring back modern London, and not because I particularly cared about the characters.
Honey Pepper's was fantastic though.