Kake

Really interesting exploration of language and culture, with good queer representation. I'm looking forward to reading it again.

This is a decent enough read when you're in the mood for something that won't stretch your brain at all (and that's the mood I'm in right now, which is why I plan to start the sequel right away).

I did find it a bit disappointing that even though a lot of the narrative takes place in a galley or in restaurants, all of the food mentioned was really basic, uninteresting, and sparsely described.

I also thought it was a shame that almost all the characters used every moment of their spare time trying to make more money. There wasn't even any explanation of why they wanted to do this - there just seemed to be a blanket assumption that of course everyone always wants more money.

I was a bit concerned going into this, since although the first Todd family book, Life After Life, is one of my favourites, I've seen a lot of people stating that there's a twist at the end of A God In Ruins that leaves them feeling annoyed or even angry. For me, though, the ending is what makes this book. Until I got there, it was a perfectly fine book that I might or might not read again — I'm not a huge fan of war stories, which this essentially is — but now I know I'll definitely come back to it.

I don't think the author does herself any favours by saying that this isn't a sequel to Life After Life. (The following is possibly a spoiler? I don't think it really is, but am marking it as one just in case.) If you haven't read Life After Life, then you won't be at all prepared for the way A God In Ruins ends, and I can absolutely see that it would discombobulate you. But having read the first one, it makes perfect sense, and indeed there were clues throughout the story that made me suspect something of the sort was going to happen. If you're planning to read this book, and haven't read Life After Life, stop now and read that first.

The main character was well-handled, as was her trans sister, and it's great to have an autistic protagonist written by an autistic author. But I did feel that the actions of the secondary characters were mainly driven by the plot, rather than by plausible individual motivations. There were attempts at other types of diversity, with Muslim and physically disabled side characters, but these felt rather awkwardly handled, with references to their faith and disabilities shoehorned in rather than thoroughly considered. And the plot felt a bit back-and-forth, rather than a clear arc. Many of the things I didn't love about this book are things I dislike about YA in general, though, so if you're a fan of YA then you'll probably enjoy this more than I did.

I like this book (and have read it three times) but it really is a bit of a slog. Pared down to its essence, it's a wonderfully imaginative look at how the story of Jesus might really have unfolded with no need for belief in the supernatural. The downside is that all of this is intercut with pages and pages of unnecessary background that someone with a deep academic interest in the field might have enjoyed but for me just got in the way of the story. Having said that, you really honestly can just skip those bits and still follow what's going on. I just wish the author had edited himself a bit more.