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A review by jamestomasino
Nevertell by Katharine Orton
2.0
It was okay. I think the historical fiction aspects of the book worked far better than the attempts at fantasy. Those were haphazard and inconsistently used. It felt a bit like an excuse to just throw something else in the mix. None of those elements felt tangibly real in a world that was being otherwise painted with a very precise brush.
Characters were interesting. Lina and Bogdan were incredibly resilient, but without the same sort of Russian pessimistic resilience I see in things like Chekhov (read concurrently). Maybe that was one of the fantasy elements, honestly. It felt out of place. The struggles they faced wash over but don't touch them. Imagine instead the depth of a character who is broken and struggling to heal while moving forward. It's an opportunity for complexity and connection we just don't get.
I'm probably going for forget most of what happened in here by next week, which is sad since the premise is so interesting.
Characters were interesting. Lina and Bogdan were incredibly resilient, but without the same sort of Russian pessimistic resilience I see in things like Chekhov (read concurrently). Maybe that was one of the fantasy elements, honestly. It felt out of place. The struggles they faced wash over but don't touch them. Imagine instead the depth of a character who is broken and struggling to heal while moving forward. It's an opportunity for complexity and connection we just don't get.
I'm probably going for forget most of what happened in here by next week, which is sad since the premise is so interesting.