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A review by debsd
Dark Chapter by Winnie M Li
2.0
ARC from Netgalley.
This is a powerful story on a very important topic. It is mostly well-written, but there are a number of inaccuracies which I found interfered with my ability to become absorbed in the story. There were quite a few very simple errors: for example the narrator mentions the “hot pink nail polish” on a nurse who’s treating her, when nurses aren’t supposed to wear nail polish, in general, and the dress code for the hospital named bans nail polish for clinical staff, or when she refers to a building as “the (name)” when there is never, ever, a “the” before its name. But there were a couple of bigger stinkers too: the narrator comments that she’s not allowed to be in court for most of the trial, then proceeds to relate the events of the trial from her own perspective, from her position in the courtroom.
The story is the author’s first book, and that does show. It’s also semi-autobiographical and I’m not sure that in this case that makes it a stronger book – I understand that the author has poured a great deal of herself into it, but I did feel that it would have been better if she’d been able to be more detached from it.
This is a powerful story on a very important topic. It is mostly well-written, but there are a number of inaccuracies which I found interfered with my ability to become absorbed in the story. There were quite a few very simple errors: for example the narrator mentions the “hot pink nail polish” on a nurse who’s treating her, when nurses aren’t supposed to wear nail polish, in general, and the dress code for the hospital named bans nail polish for clinical staff, or when she refers to a building as “the (name)” when there is never, ever, a “the” before its name. But there were a couple of bigger stinkers too: the narrator comments that she’s not allowed to be in court for most of the trial, then proceeds to relate the events of the trial from her own perspective, from her position in the courtroom.
The story is the author’s first book, and that does show. It’s also semi-autobiographical and I’m not sure that in this case that makes it a stronger book – I understand that the author has poured a great deal of herself into it, but I did feel that it would have been better if she’d been able to be more detached from it.