LRRC Week 9
I'm kind of lukewarm on both the books this week, and I can't tell if that's because I just generally wasn't into them, or if it's because I'm approaching burnout (due to work, not this, but it spills into every sector unfortunately). I hope it's not the latter - is it the end of March yet??
#17: THE AFFAIR OF THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER by Alexis Hall
In concept, I love this book. Queer lady Holmes plus trans guy Watson in a fantasy setting? Hell yeah! In execution? I thought it was just...fine.
I'm not sure exactly what got in the way for me with this. I like Holmes stories a lot - I've read several of the original books, watched many of the adaptations, and I have mostly liked all of them! This should have been extremely up my alley.
I found that I struggled a little feeling connected to the mystery, like I wasn't at any point as invested as I should've been in finding out who done it and getting a resolution. Also, while Holmes' asshole tendencies are definitely more fun in a queer woman of colour, I still prefer a Holmes who's less of an intentional asshole and more just "does not care if they insult anyone and speaks their mind."
I think the author is planning on writing more in this series, though, and I'm definitely interested to check those out - the worldbuilding was cool, and I do want to see more of this Holmes and this Watson, so that's a huge plus.
#18: ROSEWATER by Tade Thompson
Again, I thought this book was...fine? The concept was interesting, but I had a bit of a hard time following the non-linear narrative (see comment about burnout), and that made me less invested in the characters and the stakes.
I got this from the library because I saw several people I respect going on about it, but I found it difficult to really connect with the story. I also found some of the worldbuilding aspects a bit odd. I don't want to step out of my lane, but it's pretty depressing to think that Nigeria in 20-30 years will be no more progressive than it is now?
I also found the sexual aspects to be a bit off-putting, which is not an unusual thing in a book for me, but we kept coming back to it here. In the nicest of ways, this book felt very much like a Book Written By A Man.
Here's hoping I'll be more awake next week??
NEXT WEEK'S AGENDA:
#19: The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft
#20: And I Darken by Kiersten White