A review by lawbooks600
The Truth about Peacock Blue by Rosanne Hawke

emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Representation: Asian characters
Score: Five out of ten.
I own this book.

Well that was a book that could've been better, but I liked where it was going. The Truth About Peacock Blue was a book from a familiar author, Rosanne Hawke, since I've read and enjoyed her other work, Zenna Dare. I headed in with high expectations, but when I closed the final page, it was worse than disappointing.

It starts with the first person I see, Aster, having to go a boarding school, with negative reactions from one of her teachers and her peers, but she tries her best to do well in the opening pages. Everything changes when the police arrest Aster for breaking a blasphemy law and put her in prison, and that is where she stays for the rest of the story, all while her cousin, Maryam, living in Australia, creates a petition to try to free Aster. I liked that Hawke tried to tell a story about the sexism Pakistanis face, but I've already read about this topic before, so it's not too surprising. 

Did I mention Aster's username is Peacock Blue to avoid discovery? The pacing is only one of the many issues, as it's slow, even though it's below 300 pages because of filler, which Hawke could've removed for a better reading experience. Like another novel, Yellowface, The Truth About Peacock Blue heavily relies on social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, wait--Twitter is now X, and also mentions CD players and Skype. It's outdated now. I liked the characters and could root for them, but if Hawke wrote them better, they would've been more relatable, too. I like the easy to follow plot, since other subplots don't detract from it, because there aren't any. It only focuses on Maryam trying to free Aster from prison, but I didn't like the conclusion, since it was too open, and there's nothing satisfying about that. Perhaps writing a finish where Aster is free from prison would've been a better choice. 

Worst of all is the cultural appropriation since the author doesn't match Aster's attributes. A Pakistani author would've done a better job, and please read Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed for a better fictional creation on this subject.
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