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A review by sloatsj
Astonishing Splashes of Colour by Clare Morrall
2.0
Splashy, yes. Astonishing? No.
I imagine a lot of people figured out early on in this book what the surprises would be. I'd like to think the plot was constructed as a stage for synaethesia, but even that seems hardly fleshed out.
Unfortunately my sympathy for the character, Kitty, didn't go very far, despite what are admittedly some pretty big troubles. Aside from her, the other characters seemed underdeveloped. They came with labels: the husband is "sanity in a can," the oldest brother "the successful author," another one "the slow brother with a heart of gold," etc.
The family blow-out scene halfway through read like farce, with the two main combatants throwing barbs at each other like "Typical" (of you), and "Surprise, surprise." It was like a theater piece with actors who can't act, who stand still and read their lines.
The wind-down was overly drawn out, and marred by overstated reconciliations. (Remember the end of The Wizard of Oz (movie), where everyone appears at Dorothy's bedside? That's it in a nutshell.) And I found the metaphor in the last lines almost embarrassing: "I look at the ceiling and see a tiny spider rushing along with an appearance of purpose. Does it know where it's going? I think. Or where it's come from?"
Two stars from me, one of which is for concept.
I imagine a lot of people figured out early on in this book what the surprises would be. I'd like to think the plot was constructed as a stage for synaethesia, but even that seems hardly fleshed out.
Unfortunately my sympathy for the character, Kitty, didn't go very far, despite what are admittedly some pretty big troubles. Aside from her, the other characters seemed underdeveloped. They came with labels: the husband is "sanity in a can," the oldest brother "the successful author," another one "the slow brother with a heart of gold," etc.
The family blow-out scene halfway through read like farce, with the two main combatants throwing barbs at each other like "Typical" (of you), and "Surprise, surprise." It was like a theater piece with actors who can't act, who stand still and read their lines.
The wind-down was overly drawn out, and marred by overstated reconciliations. (Remember the end of The Wizard of Oz (movie), where everyone appears at Dorothy's bedside? That's it in a nutshell.) And I found the metaphor in the last lines almost embarrassing: "I look at the ceiling and see a tiny spider rushing along with an appearance of purpose. Does it know where it's going? I think. Or where it's come from?"
Two stars from me, one of which is for concept.