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A review by bogwitchreads
The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard
2.75
The concept of this sounds so bonkers I was excited to read this, and I really wanted to love it, but alas, I just did not care about anything that happened in this book. In fairness to it, I read it immediately after a book I wound up loving an unhinged amount, and I always struggle with the next book I read after those sorts of favorites. Maybe if I read it at a different time, I would have enjoyed this the way I wanted to. Honestly, though, I'm not entirely convinced I would.
The main thing is the timeline felt so weird. At one point, Xich Si said she loved Rice Fish, and out loud I shouted "where?" I could have sworn it had only been like a week, based on how it felt to me, but then it turned out it had been several months? I don't mind relationships that develop quickly, but it just didn't feel like they ever really liked each other.
In general, I just really struggled to get invested, which also makes it hard to analyze anything about it. Did the politics make sense? Were the character arcs consistent? Who knows? Not me. There were things I enjoyed (I genuinely loved the attention given to the characters' language and how they addressed everyone, and the concept is so fun), and I'm not necessarily opposed to reading another Aliette de Bodard book because maybe it was just my mood, or maybe it was just this book, but man, I did not enjoy my experience here.
The main thing is the timeline felt so weird. At one point, Xich Si said she loved Rice Fish, and out loud I shouted "where?" I could have sworn it had only been like a week, based on how it felt to me, but then it turned out it had been several months? I don't mind relationships that develop quickly, but it just didn't feel like they ever really liked each other.
In general, I just really struggled to get invested, which also makes it hard to analyze anything about it. Did the politics make sense? Were the character arcs consistent? Who knows? Not me. There were things I enjoyed (I genuinely loved the attention given to the characters' language and how they addressed everyone, and the concept is so fun), and I'm not necessarily opposed to reading another Aliette de Bodard book because maybe it was just my mood, or maybe it was just this book, but man, I did not enjoy my experience here.