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A review by shellbellbell
Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston
DNF halfway through. I really wanted to like this book, so it is with a heavy heart that I have to give up on it. Two things:
When I first put this book on my TBR, I think it was because it may have been marketed as "hopeful". And there are a few genuine moments of happiness and queer found family in the beginning of the book that I enjoyed. I loved seeing the casual queerness and gender diversity in the society outsiders. The outsider society was also rooted in traditional griot culture, and had strong African-futurist vibes. We need more of that in fantasy, so I was happy to see it.
However, the world itself is just brutal (see content warnings below for more details). Maybe it gets hopeful at the end. But I just couldn't watch one of the main characters continue to go through trauma after trauma. It just got to the point I wasn't enjoying it anymore.
The other thing is the author's writing style. There were some moments of beauty, for sure, but overall, it just didn't appeal to me. It's a little disjointed and back and forth. Paragraphs usually end with a non-sequitor or are just kind of a jumble of statements. It was confusing. I found myself having to go back and re-read passages to understand what was going on, and was often left confused when a character just... DID something without explanation. It didn't flow smoothly. I can see how the style could speak to other readers! It's unique, for sure! I could totally read poetry or a short story by this author. But when the book was already difficult to read because of the content, this was kinda the nail in the coffin.
Sadly, not for me.
Representation notes: Society is based in (west?) African tradition, so most characters, and those in power, are PoC. Characters exist that are explicitly a member of a gender outside the male/female binary with their own pronouns. Queer romance with the main character, and between the third-gender folks. Author is a Black woman.
Content warnings: The world includes a patriarchal society that practices human trafficking, slavery, and is discriminatory against women and third-gender folks. Content includes brutal gender-based (and what could be read as transphobic) violence, gore, and torture.
When I first put this book on my TBR, I think it was because it may have been marketed as "hopeful". And there are a few genuine moments of happiness and queer found family in the beginning of the book that I enjoyed. I loved seeing the casual queerness and gender diversity in the society outsiders. The outsider society was also rooted in traditional griot culture, and had strong African-futurist vibes. We need more of that in fantasy, so I was happy to see it.
However, the world itself is just brutal (see content warnings below for more details). Maybe it gets hopeful at the end. But I just couldn't watch one of the main characters continue to go through trauma after trauma. It just got to the point I wasn't enjoying it anymore.
The other thing is the author's writing style. There were some moments of beauty, for sure, but overall, it just didn't appeal to me. It's a little disjointed and back and forth. Paragraphs usually end with a non-sequitor or are just kind of a jumble of statements. It was confusing. I found myself having to go back and re-read passages to understand what was going on, and was often left confused when a character just... DID something without explanation. It didn't flow smoothly. I can see how the style could speak to other readers! It's unique, for sure! I could totally read poetry or a short story by this author. But when the book was already difficult to read because of the content, this was kinda the nail in the coffin.
Sadly, not for me.
Representation notes: Society is based in (west?) African tradition, so most characters, and those in power, are PoC. Characters exist that are explicitly a member of a gender outside the male/female binary with their own pronouns. Queer romance with the main character, and between the third-gender folks. Author is a Black woman.
Content warnings: The world includes a patriarchal society that practices human trafficking, slavery, and is discriminatory against women and third-gender folks. Content includes brutal gender-based (and what could be read as transphobic) violence, gore, and torture.