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tessa_grayreading 's review for:
Infernal Devices
by Philip Reeve
I'm very unsure about finishing the series because jfc this book was bad in so many ways. Why are Wren and Hester butchered like this?? Why are they not allowed to be anything but bad, two-dimensional stereotypes?? Why are women not allowed to like or love each other, not even as mother and daughter? Why are kids constantly being abused and mistreated and sold as slaves just to, idk, make it easier for some random scene to take place? Why does everyone love and worship Tom?! Why do humans suck so much?
These and many more questions are all left unanswered and I don't think after this ending I'm curious enough to see where this goes. I'm just not. It can't redeem what Reeve keeps doing to Hester and the main relationships, it probably won't even try tbh, this will probably end with horrible deaths and still a "happy" end.
Also the nod to LGBTQ+ with "but youths will be youths and so girls fall in love with girls and boys with boys" wasn't a good way to.. well, idk, accept that they exist? Because there is no rep, we get another totally forced, totally unwanted hetero love story between two characters who have zero chemistry or meaningful conversations that you could mistake as positive feelings towards one another. Also the "youth" part really bothers me. It's not some trend people grow out of.
Also why the everloving fuck did I have to read about Penny- whatshisname again?? Especially in that context? ESPECIALLY WITH THAT ENDING, I MEAN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?! Why would Wren choose that stupid, disgusting, pathetic excuse for an old fucker over even so much as an ant?! What bullshit. Catch me murdering the fuck who nearly killed my dad, keeps slaves and is just overall a disgrace to the human race at the first chance I get.
Just no to so many parts of this story, Wren as a character, the butchering of Hester, the treatment of basically everyone else and that whole ordeal with Uncle?! What was that about?? Abused child returns """home""" after 17 frigging years and immediately reverts back to loving their abusive """father figure""" to the point where they threaten their friends at gunpoint?? What?
Also good job Reeve in immediately ruining your own "I'm not like other writers, one of my characters actually didn't manage to magically integrate into a society they don't really understand and not (even) love could help them do it" moment which I was actually impressed with. Amazing job, really.
Well, I'm done with this for now. Not a lot of actual review in this, I also didn't even notice how annoyed I was with most of this stuff until I started writing this.
Anyway, like I said, I don't think I'm going to continue with a Darkling Plain, but we'll see. I'll read some reviews and decide.
These and many more questions are all left unanswered and I don't think after this ending I'm curious enough to see where this goes. I'm just not. It can't redeem what Reeve keeps doing to Hester and the main relationships, it probably won't even try tbh, this will probably end with horrible deaths and still a "happy" end.
Also the nod to LGBTQ+ with "but youths will be youths and so girls fall in love with girls and boys with boys" wasn't a good way to.. well, idk, accept that they exist? Because there is no rep, we get another totally forced, totally unwanted hetero love story between two characters who have zero chemistry or meaningful conversations that you could mistake as positive feelings towards one another. Also the "youth" part really bothers me. It's not some trend people grow out of.
Also why the everloving fuck did I have to read about Penny- whatshisname again?? Especially in that context? ESPECIALLY WITH THAT ENDING, I MEAN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?! Why would Wren choose that stupid, disgusting, pathetic excuse for an old fucker over even so much as an ant?! What bullshit. Catch me murdering the fuck who nearly killed my dad, keeps slaves and is just overall a disgrace to the human race at the first chance I get.
Just no to so many parts of this story, Wren as a character, the butchering of Hester, the treatment of basically everyone else and that whole ordeal with Uncle?! What was that about?? Abused child returns """home""" after 17 frigging years and immediately reverts back to loving their abusive """father figure""" to the point where they threaten their friends at gunpoint?? What?
Also good job Reeve in immediately ruining your own "I'm not like other writers, one of my characters actually didn't manage to magically integrate into a society they don't really understand and not (even) love could help them do it" moment which I was actually impressed with. Amazing job, really.
Well, I'm done with this for now. Not a lot of actual review in this, I also didn't even notice how annoyed I was with most of this stuff until I started writing this.
Anyway, like I said, I don't think I'm going to continue with a Darkling Plain, but we'll see. I'll read some reviews and decide.