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A review by gobblebook
The Actual Star by Monica Byrne
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I really wish I hadn't bothered to finish this.
This book has three storylines, set in 1012, 2012, and 3012. In each timeline, there is an obsession with the end of the world, and with twins. The first story is set in ancient Maya and focuses on royal twins as they come of age and take over the throne. In the second timeline, a woman from the US with Mayan heritage goes to Belize tour ancient Mayan sites, and gets caught in a conflict between twin tour guides. In 3012, the world and humanity have changed drastically - gender has been abolished, money and government don't exist, people are all nomadic and join small communities temporarily, and there is a big debate over the meaning of Xibalbá, the Mayan afterlife.
I don't shy away from dense books, so the giant glossary didn't intimidate me, but I also didn't find that I needed to refer to it because the terminology is explained pretty well.
The book moves very slowly, and not much happens. At first it seems like there's no connection between the three timelines, but by the end of the book it is clear that they are connected, although you can argue that the connection (aside from the suggestion that the twins are reincarnations of earlier twins) is just that people from each timeline grossly misinterpreted the events of the previous timeline.
I didn't find the future world to be even remotely believable, and everything about the conflict there felt very contrived. The 2012 story was annoying because the characters were one-dimensional and not very likeable. The 1012 story was perhaps the most interesting one, but again, the main characters were totally unlikeable. Then I got to the end and felt like there hadn't really been much point to the whole book.
This book has three storylines, set in 1012, 2012, and 3012. In each timeline, there is an obsession with the end of the world, and with twins. The first story is set in ancient Maya and focuses on royal twins as they come of age and take over the throne. In the second timeline, a woman from the US with Mayan heritage goes to Belize tour ancient Mayan sites, and gets caught in a conflict between twin tour guides. In 3012, the world and humanity have changed drastically - gender has been abolished, money and government don't exist, people are all nomadic and join small communities temporarily, and there is a big debate over the meaning of Xibalbá, the Mayan afterlife.
I don't shy away from dense books, so the giant glossary didn't intimidate me, but I also didn't find that I needed to refer to it because the terminology is explained pretty well.
The book moves very slowly, and not much happens. At first it seems like there's no connection between the three timelines, but by the end of the book it is clear that they are connected, although you can argue that the connection (aside from the suggestion that the twins are reincarnations of earlier twins) is just that people from each timeline grossly misinterpreted the events of the previous timeline.
I didn't find the future world to be even remotely believable, and everything about the conflict there felt very contrived. The 2012 story was annoying because the characters were one-dimensional and not very likeable. The 1012 story was perhaps the most interesting one, but again, the main characters were totally unlikeable. Then I got to the end and felt like there hadn't really been much point to the whole book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm