My sister gave me this book, she said it was one that she really liked. She and I do not have the same taste in books. There is not a chance in hell that I would have picked this book up off a shelf and said…hey, this looks like a good read.
First of all the book is 963 pages and much like I tend to binge watch TV, once I start a book, I tend to binge read, and 963 pages is a long binge.
Beyond that, I also don’t particularly enjoy reading epic books that are full of darkness and doom, real or fantasy. The world is already full of doom and gloom enough, I would rather read something to lighten my mood, not destroy my faith in humanity and life itself.
That said, this is not a bad book. The story is engaging, though dark and somewhat hopeless at times. I felt at moments rather content because my life is 1000 times better than the lives of the characters in this book; but I also felt moments of hopelessness and was thoroughly depressed because although this story is quite fantastical, the reactions of the people and authorities are horrifying yet totally realistic. I often find fantasy a good window into the hypocrisy and selfishness of our society, in particular our first world society.
We have all the advantages imaginable and yet live in a constant state of fear of losing those privileges. We are collectively so afraid that we consider any outsider as a threat. Naturally, not everyone lives in this state of xenophobia, but as a society, we spend our time trying to build walls (real and metaphorical), to separate and divide under the guise of “protection”. Protection of our riches and happiness, as though we are somehow more deserving than others.
But even beyond the story, the characters are wildly interesting and rich with depth. I found them both predictable, in the sense that I got to know each one well (after 963 freaking pages, I should hope so), but still surprising, which kept them from being boring. The main issue here is that I am somewhat sensitive, and because I grew attached, loss was disproportionately hard to read, I mean this is a work of pure fiction (thank goodness) for Pete’s sake.
In any case, the book did a number on my head, which could be seen as the sign of a good book, but I probably won’t read it again.
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