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A review by alexchristie
Speak Gigantular by Irenosen Okojie
4.0
General Appeal: 1 Star
To someone craving surrealism and/or dark fantasy, this book lives up to expectations.
Use of Language: 1 Star
The author carves excellent images with her words. She makes it very easy for a reader to see what the characters are seeing and feel what they are feeling. "Merlene unveiled her favorite memory: teaching Grace to ride a yellow bike aged eight. It was tucked into her suitcase, folded carefully between clothes."
Theme/Integrity: 0 Stars
Many of the stories ramble on without quite finding a footing. At times it feels like the author is trying to be dark, or trying to be edgy, with ultimately no real purpose to it. Many metaphors don't quite land, and sometimes as a reader you're left feeling a sort of "well that was interesting but I'm not really sure I took anything away from it".
Ability to Hold Interest: .5 Stars
Most of the stories share the same tone, which helps connect them all as part of a whole collection, but ultimately makes it difficult to hold my interest when it's depressing theme after depressing theme and no hope in sight. I began to just assume that something terrible or unfortunate was going to happen in every story. .5 stars because despite this I did read to the end.
Originality: .5 Stars
On the one hand, many of the stories have great twists that the reader won't see coming. On the other hand, many of the characters in her stories share names, character traits, and voices. This can become confusing when it jumps from one story about a girl named Grace to a story narrated by a different girl named Grace. This combined with the comment I made above about every story becoming predictably depressing is why I give originality a .5.
Total: 3/5 Stars
To someone craving surrealism and/or dark fantasy, this book lives up to expectations.
Use of Language: 1 Star
The author carves excellent images with her words. She makes it very easy for a reader to see what the characters are seeing and feel what they are feeling. "Merlene unveiled her favorite memory: teaching Grace to ride a yellow bike aged eight. It was tucked into her suitcase, folded carefully between clothes."
Theme/Integrity: 0 Stars
Many of the stories ramble on without quite finding a footing. At times it feels like the author is trying to be dark, or trying to be edgy, with ultimately no real purpose to it. Many metaphors don't quite land, and sometimes as a reader you're left feeling a sort of "well that was interesting but I'm not really sure I took anything away from it".
Ability to Hold Interest: .5 Stars
Most of the stories share the same tone, which helps connect them all as part of a whole collection, but ultimately makes it difficult to hold my interest when it's depressing theme after depressing theme and no hope in sight. I began to just assume that something terrible or unfortunate was going to happen in every story. .5 stars because despite this I did read to the end.
Originality: .5 Stars
On the one hand, many of the stories have great twists that the reader won't see coming. On the other hand, many of the characters in her stories share names, character traits, and voices. This can become confusing when it jumps from one story about a girl named Grace to a story narrated by a different girl named Grace. This combined with the comment I made above about every story becoming predictably depressing is why I give originality a .5.
Total: 3/5 Stars