A review by yongxiang
After The Inquiry by Jolene Tan

3.0

pretty straightforward book expressing disillusionment towards a bureaucracy riddled with inhumane and corrupt practices, and the people who mechanically and spinelessly uphold it under the guise of deference to the established order. the banality or evil... or something. the narrator is reminiscent of the self-deluding butler in Remains of the Day, except he's a civil servant with some unsaid elitist and racist views and a tendency to rationalise some very questionable behaviour. the book also contains some thinly veiled references to Teo You Yenn, Li Hongyi's email and other news topics.

the criticisms that the book makes can seem kinda repetitive or one-note as the book goes on, especially since the plot itself is also kinda flat. verdict: agree with kelly on this one.