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A review by carrieclothwright
Tea Set and Match by Casey Blair
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I want to love this book. I really truly want this to be an excellent book. I love the premise. The world is intriguing, magical, fantastic. The characters are interesting. The story is a good story. Plus tea and dragons! So many wonderful elements.
But.
A). This is a writer who apparently never heard of "show, don't tell". If you stripped out every passage that has to do with the narrator explaining what they are about to do and the deeper aspects behind it, or their interpretations of other character's actions, or the repeated explanations of roots signifying being grounded, it would be a thin book. Likely vastly better--because when the author decides to tell a story without recording the interior analysis of the narrator, it can be good! In its current state though, it's only about half story, and half explanation of everyone's motivations, changes, social positioning, the narrator's inner growth, and so on.
Corollary: the beauty of metaphors is that they don't have to be explained. Touch on the root thing lightly, imply it, then let it go. At times it feels so heavy-handed it's as if we're reading an essay about groundedness and community and metaphor, not experiencing a story in which those things have a place.
B). I say this as someone who is 100% in favor of everything this book espouses: the messaging is far too blatant to make a good novel. As a fictional essay exercise in how community could work, this is ok. As a vehicle for scenes about how people could reveal preferred pronouns, or how disabled (book's term) people can be included, or how a "perfect" boyfriend acts... ok. But as a novel? It's too much. I'm sorry, because I deeply deeply agree with everything this book is trying to demonstrate! But stop, for the love of the spirits stop beating the readers over the head with the continual explicit lists of how the narrator and characters around her are doing diversity, equity, and inclusion right.
I wish I could give this book a better rating, I really do. And if you want to read a long book with continued expository passages about how to do DEI, and heavy-handed metaphors that aren't allowed to be metaphorical because they are repeatedly explained, this is perfect. Personally, I find that books are more powerful when they let the reader reach their own conclusions... or even let the reader struggle to reach a conclusion.
But.
A). This is a writer who apparently never heard of "show, don't tell". If you stripped out every passage that has to do with the narrator explaining what they are about to do and the deeper aspects behind it, or their interpretations of other character's actions, or the repeated explanations of roots signifying being grounded, it would be a thin book. Likely vastly better--because when the author decides to tell a story without recording the interior analysis of the narrator, it can be good! In its current state though, it's only about half story, and half explanation of everyone's motivations, changes, social positioning, the narrator's inner growth, and so on.
Corollary: the beauty of metaphors is that they don't have to be explained. Touch on the root thing lightly, imply it, then let it go. At times it feels so heavy-handed it's as if we're reading an essay about groundedness and community and metaphor, not experiencing a story in which those things have a place.
B). I say this as someone who is 100% in favor of everything this book espouses: the messaging is far too blatant to make a good novel. As a fictional essay exercise in how community could work, this is ok. As a vehicle for scenes about how people could reveal preferred pronouns, or how disabled (book's term) people can be included, or how a "perfect" boyfriend acts... ok. But as a novel? It's too much. I'm sorry, because I deeply deeply agree with everything this book is trying to demonstrate! But stop, for the love of the spirits stop beating the readers over the head with the continual explicit lists of how the narrator and characters around her are doing diversity, equity, and inclusion right.
I wish I could give this book a better rating, I really do. And if you want to read a long book with continued expository passages about how to do DEI, and heavy-handed metaphors that aren't allowed to be metaphorical because they are repeatedly explained, this is perfect. Personally, I find that books are more powerful when they let the reader reach their own conclusions... or even let the reader struggle to reach a conclusion.