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A review by annieecusack
The Perishing by Natashia Deón
2.0
This was my October 2021 Book of the Month pick, but I never got around to it until June 2022 because it was listed as a recommended read for Pride Month. However, I'm not sure why that was because, besides the first sentence, "My name is Sarah Shipley and I've slept with five women," there is not really any incorporation of an LGBTQ+ theme in this novel.
This book would have been 1-star flat if not for the author's undeniable ability to write, and the fast-paced ending (which was arguably the only part of this book that was coherent). Don't get me wrong, this novel was, in my opinion, poorly organized and frankly quite boring. But there were some parts that were too beautiful or profound not to make note of. This novel does deal with important topics such as racial prejudice and orphanhood, and I think these aspects were also part of my rating's saving grace.
Throughout the majority of the novel, I was confused as to why there were multiple viewpoints. I was confused most of the time what was even happening in Sarah's story because her viewpoint was so limited, and the switching of views between Sarah and Lou never really coincided until the very last chapters. By the end, it was made clear what Sarah's story was, although I'm not sure why her story could not have just been told as an epilogue as opposed to paralleled to Lou's story.
It seemed, for the most part, that Lou's life was full of irrelevant events and people. I found myself questioning what was going on and even who characters were as they came up (again??) because they were not well-developed, nor memorable by any means. Even when it was attempted to wrap everything up at the end, it just felt random. I wish there had been more about who Lou and the other immortals were throughout the rest of the story, and not just at the very end.
And do NOT get me started on how POOR the grammar and syntax of this book was. Not everywhere, of course, but I found myself genuinely wondering if this book had even been edited because there were so many errors throughout.
This book would have been 1-star flat if not for the author's undeniable ability to write, and the fast-paced ending (which was arguably the only part of this book that was coherent). Don't get me wrong, this novel was, in my opinion, poorly organized and frankly quite boring. But there were some parts that were too beautiful or profound not to make note of. This novel does deal with important topics such as racial prejudice and orphanhood, and I think these aspects were also part of my rating's saving grace.
Throughout the majority of the novel, I was confused as to why there were multiple viewpoints. I was confused most of the time what was even happening in Sarah's story because her viewpoint was so limited, and the switching of views between Sarah and Lou never really coincided until the very last chapters. By the end, it was made clear what Sarah's story was, although I'm not sure why her story could not have just been told as an epilogue as opposed to paralleled to Lou's story.
It seemed, for the most part, that Lou's life was full of irrelevant events and people. I found myself questioning what was going on and even who characters were as they came up (again??) because they were not well-developed, nor memorable by any means. Even when it was attempted to wrap everything up at the end, it just felt random. I wish there had been more about who Lou and the other immortals were throughout the rest of the story, and not just at the very end.
And do NOT get me started on how POOR the grammar and syntax of this book was. Not everywhere, of course, but I found myself genuinely wondering if this book had even been edited because there were so many errors throughout.