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A review by cuddlesome
Beauty by Susan Wilson
DNF at page 54. I was initially intrigued by the premise of a BATB story with portraiture at its heart but at this point it’s become clear that this is just too dry for my taste. Scenes that I would think should be full of emotion are delivered in a matter of fact way.
I also just tend to get a bit of pause when I read books that borrow the language and motifs of BATB when applied to people with injuries/deformities (the latter, in this case, in the form of a genetic disease). I don’t know, I’m sure it can be done well but in my experience it comes off as cruel to frame polite, well-adjusted people who happen to be deformed as beasts in a way that calling surrealistic, mean, literal monsters that doesn’t. Arguably that’s the point, but…
I also just tend to get a bit of pause when I read books that borrow the language and motifs of BATB when applied to people with injuries/deformities (the latter, in this case, in the form of a genetic disease). I don’t know, I’m sure it can be done well but in my experience it comes off as cruel to frame polite, well-adjusted people who happen to be deformed as beasts in a way that calling surrealistic, mean, literal monsters that doesn’t. Arguably that’s the point, but…