sahithi akella

If I could build a shrine for any author, it would be for Jodi Picoult. This book, like every single one of hers, is absolutely heartbreaking and so, so nuanced.

The themes are dealt with such finesse and the characterisations are so brilliant you can't help but feel for everyone involved - and I guess that's the point. No matter the views, opinions and beliefs we hold, it is so easy to forget our 'opponents' are humans too and no side is the caricature the other makes it out to be.

It's a gutwrenching read that took me on a rollercoaster of emotions. I could not put it down and finished the whole book in one sitting. 10/10 absolutely recommend!

THIS WAS AN ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT READ!

I also think that this book is like a litmus test of sorts - whatever themes you pick up on reflect a lot about you. It has something that appeals to everyone.

Also, fair warning, it is a bit dense for the first 150 or so pages but this is one of those books that you MUST reread, just because it's so much better every time you do so and you find something new every read!

TLDR: This is a beautifully written novel with some content and character concerns. Read the blurb and know that the novel will contain details of the love between the protagonist and his cousin. All female characters are sexualised, there is subtle misogyny woven throughout the novel. Worth a read if you think you can handle these issues - quite beautifully written.

This book is very well written - it got me out of a major reading slump and overall just got me thinking a lot. There are some really insightful thoughts into life that resonated with me very deeply. This was my first Iain Banks' book and seeing other people call it a bad one of his, I'm excited to read more.

However, I did have some issues character and content wise. The blurb gives a pretty major content warning - do not ignore if first cousin relationships ick you out (as they should) but I knew that I could handle reading this. Towards the end, it felt very preachy (very anti-American, anti-capitalist, anti-climate change deniers) and it felt like these mini rants detracted from the plot and characterisations.

Maybe it's just how male authors sometimes end up portraying female characters but there was a lot of subtle misogyny and pretty much every single female character was sexualised (or assessed sexually - there was quite literally a paragraph from a male character's perspective evaluating his 50+ year old aunt sexually?). I hope men don't do this in real life...

Also, minor gripe but every single character is a walking stereotype, even the supposedly 'eccentric' ones fit very nearly into the eccentric stereotypes. It felt like I had already met these characters in multiple different books before but maybe that's just because this novel was published almost 20 years ago and I shouldn't evaluate it with current standards.

I think it's worth the read if you can tolerate these issues - like I mentioned, it did get me out of my reading slump and I am excited to read more lit fics! Also, I kinda sorta expected the direction of the twist so it's not a totally novel idea (pun intended)!