Scan barcode
A review by venatrix
The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I had some very mixed feelings about this book. It felt like there was a lot of potential in the world but something about the writing style made it fall flat for me.
We follow two older trans people - a man who recently transitioned and a woman who transitioned as a child. While they were physically on the same journey, it was emotionally very different.
The woman, Uiziya, is a weaver who feels her training was left incomplete when her aunt was exiled. She wants to find her aunt to finish learning. I had a very hard time with her chapters. She had the more interesting story in what she did (especially at the end) but… I just couldn’t believe her as a character. She felt like a child - at most in her early 20s - rather than a woman in her 60s. I was baffled how this woman has made a living for herself for decades when she seemed so paralyzed by the loss of her teacher. This feeling of childishness was furthered because the writing felt very abrupt and disjointed to me.
The woman, Uiziya, is a weaver who feels her training was left incomplete when her aunt was exiled. She wants to find her aunt to finish learning. I had a very hard time with her chapters. She had the more interesting story in what she did (especially at the end) but… I just couldn’t believe her as a character. She felt like a child - at most in her early 20s - rather than a woman in her 60s. I was baffled how this woman has made a living for herself for decades when she seemed so paralyzed by the loss of her teacher. This feeling of childishness was furthered because the writing felt very abrupt and disjointed to me.
The nameless man is trying to figure out where he fits in the world after his transition. I very much enjoyed his journey to find where he belongs, as he’s had decades of living as a woman in a culture with very rigid gender roles. His insecurity of what was his role as a man, fear of rejection and the pain of being deadnamed made the nameless man feel a real person with whom I was invested. I greatly appreciated his point of view. The writing for his chapters worked much better, as I felt it conveyed his confusion and insecurity.
The world was intriguing. But it was a setting, never feeling truly explored. I would have liked to know more about the world and its magic (through the lens of the nameless man only.) The ending just felt like a thing that happened rather than something being built to.
In summation… The Four Profound Weaves had one character I was invested in, with the rest of the book feeling a skeleton. I can see the potential, but it’s not quite there for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Death