Govind
I had huge hopes for the book. It started out great, and up until the last quarter, it was going well. The author was juggling a lot of topics smoothly, until it all combined into a mess by the end. The ending ruined the novel. It took away the progress and kind of made the story feel meaningless. Even though the ending was realistic, the epilogue/last chapter’s time skip and the sudden foray into science fiction ruined the story’s groundedness, making it even more unsatisfying. I have never experienced a tone shift like that in a novel before.
The characters don't have much chemistry, but you could feel it increasing, and when it felt like it was improving, the author put a stop to it. It felt like the queer character here is used as a token. She is written as shallow and one dimensional. There isn't much character development. The other lead also isn’t properly fleshed out. Even though the author did a fair bit of research and integrated many topics well, there is a fair share of stereotypes in the book. From the stereotype of the strong, cold, career oriented woman who is depicted as not caring for her partner, to several others.
The novelist favours a traditionalist narrative. This wasn't apparent at first, but as the novel goes on, it becomes clear where the book is headed, and the story becomes predictable. Even then, I hoped the author wouldn't take the easy way out and do something creative but that wasn't the case here.
Well written literary fiction with good romance is one of my favourite genres to read and this book had the potential to become one of the best l had read all year, but ultimately, it fell short. Though there were plenty of genuinely enjoyable moments and the writing flowed well at times, I finished the book feeling disappointed.
Thank You NetGalley for the advanced review copy.
I had huge hopes for the book. It started out great, and up until the last quarter, it was going well. The author was juggling a lot of topics smoothly, until it all combined into a mess by the end. The ending ruined the novel. It took away the progress and kind of made the story feel meaningless. Even though the ending was realistic, the epilogue/last chapter’s time skip and the sudden foray into science fiction ruined the story’s groundedness, making it even more unsatisfying. I have never experienced a tone shift like that in a novel before.
The characters don't have much chemistry, but you could feel it increasing, and when it felt like it was improving, the author put a stop to it. It felt like the queer character here is used as a token. She is written as shallow and one dimensional. There isn't much character development. The other lead also isn’t properly fleshed out. Even though the author did a fair bit of research and integrated many topics well, there is a fair share of stereotypes in the book. From the stereotype of the strong, cold, career oriented woman who is depicted as not caring for her partner, to several others.
The novelist favours a traditionalist narrative. This wasn't apparent at first, but as the novel goes on, it becomes clear where the book is headed, and the story becomes predictable. Even then, I hoped the author wouldn't take the easy way out and do something creative but that wasn't the case here.
Well written literary fiction with good romance is one of my favourite genres to read and this book had the potential to become one of the best l had read all year, but ultimately, it fell short. Though there were plenty of genuinely enjoyable moments and the writing flowed well at times, I finished the book feeling disappointed.
Thank You NetGalley for the advanced review copy.
