A review by funktious
Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A really mixed read for me!

The good: an excellent, weird, eerie Faerie that never feels twee or predictable. Loved the moon fish and the sea whales and the Queen's court. And the gothic just drips off the page, with the fog on the moors and the mysterious, changeable house. I also really admired the theology - I didn't follow a lot of it and had to look up a lot in wikipedia, but you could see how cleverly Ng wound it into the world.

The meh: I just didn't like any of the characters really, which on reflection is probably because I don't like missionaries, and there wasn't enough about either Cathy or Laon beyond their mission to make me care about either of them. The pacing was also dreadfully slow in the first half which is probably fine if the Gothic build up works for you, but it didn't for me.

The Twist: 
I really didn't enjoy the incest BUT at the end, I can see why Ng went there. It works in the context of the plot and the genre. However just because it's clever and makes sense, doesn't make it enjoyable to read.
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