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A review by laurenm_
Roofworld by Christopher Fowler
2.0
i love the concept of this book; i think that a roofworld sounds fascinating and the premises of the novel are great. what isn’t great however, is the lack of depth to all the characters, the unnecessary stretching of a plot that is weak, and the tying together of the ending. this book made me so frustrated that i’m about to write half an essay on. here goes:
1) ending
let’s start with the end. when i realised that i only had 30 pages left of the book i was concerned because no loose ends had even been thought about pulling together. and i was right! the ending felt rushed, messy, and nonsensical. i still don’t really get it.
2) characters
oh dear lord. the characters seem to have little to no continuity or depth at all- particularly hargreave (who feels wholly unnecessary to the story), zalian, sarah, oh and anybody who isn’t robert. motivations are unclear, development is nonexistant for most and predictable for the few, and they are all entirely unlikable.
3) plot
again, messy and shallow. the supernatural element sometimes comes across as cynical and other times seems ridiculous. scenes which should be short and to the point are dragged out and unbearable, and there are many which are straight up unnecessary.
4) sexualisation of ALL THE WOMEN.
i am 99% sure that every single female character in this book is described using the words ‘sexual’ and ‘figure’. it is completely unneeded and off putting and one of the reasons this book frustrated me to the point where it took me half a month to read it.
tldr; it somehow managed to be both shallow and over complicated at the same time, with an annoying habit of stretching out a weak story full of shallow characters.
1) ending
let’s start with the end. when i realised that i only had 30 pages left of the book i was concerned because no loose ends had even been thought about pulling together. and i was right! the ending felt rushed, messy, and nonsensical. i still don’t really get it.
2) characters
oh dear lord. the characters seem to have little to no continuity or depth at all- particularly hargreave (who feels wholly unnecessary to the story), zalian, sarah, oh and anybody who isn’t robert. motivations are unclear, development is nonexistant for most and predictable for the few, and they are all entirely unlikable.
3) plot
again, messy and shallow. the supernatural element sometimes comes across as cynical and other times seems ridiculous. scenes which should be short and to the point are dragged out and unbearable, and there are many which are straight up unnecessary.
4) sexualisation of ALL THE WOMEN.
i am 99% sure that every single female character in this book is described using the words ‘sexual’ and ‘figure’. it is completely unneeded and off putting and one of the reasons this book frustrated me to the point where it took me half a month to read it.
tldr; it somehow managed to be both shallow and over complicated at the same time, with an annoying habit of stretching out a weak story full of shallow characters.